Kessler's sculpin (''Leocottus kesslerii'') is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

of Baikal sculpin, a freshwater fish native to

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

and

Mongolia Mongolia; Mongolian script: , , ; lit. "Mongol Nation" or "State of Mongolia" () is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south. It covers an area of , with a population of just 3.3 million, ...

where it occurs in Lake Baikal and surrounding lakes as well as the

Selenga The Selenga or Selenge ( ; bua, Сэлэнгэ гол / Сэлэнгэ мүрэн, translit=Selenge gol / Selenge müren; russian: Селенга́, ) is a major river in Mongolia and Buryatia, Russia. Originating from its headwater tributaries, ...

, Angara and Bain Gol rivers. It is the only member of its

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...

. In Lake Baikal it occurs on sandy, rocky-sandy or sandy-muddy bottoms, ranging from relatively shallow water to depths of . In rivers they mainly occur in slow-flowing channels and

floodplain A floodplain or flood plain or bottomlands is an area of land adjacent to a river which stretches from the banks of its channel to the base of the enclosing valley walls, and which experiences flooding during periods of high discharge.Goudi ...

s. This species grows to a

total length Fish measurement is the measuring of individual fish and various parts of their anatomies. These data are used in many areas of ichthyology, including taxonomy and fisheries biology. Overall length * Standard length (SL) is the length of a fish ...

of , but typically is . Adults are crepuscular, and feed on

gammarid Gammaridae is a family of amphipods. In North America they are included among the folk taxonomic category of " scuds", and otherwise gammarids is usually used as a common name. They have a wide distribution, centered on Eurasia, and are euryha ...

chironomid The Chironomidae (informally known as chironomids, nonbiting midges, or lake flies) comprise a family of nematoceran flies with a global distribution. They are closely related to the Ceratopogonidae, Simuliidae, and Thaumaleidae. Many specie ...

s, and young fish. Spawning takes place in May to June at depths. Eggs are deposited under stones, and the male stays guarding the eggs. The

pelagic The pelagic zone consists of the water column of the open ocean, and can be further divided into regions by depth (as illustrated on the right). The word ''pelagic'' is derived . The pelagic zone can be thought of as an imaginary cylinder or w ...

larvae feed on

plankton Plankton are the diverse collection of organisms found in water (or air) that are unable to propel themselves against a current (or wind). The individual organisms constituting plankton are called plankters. In the ocean, they provide a crucia ...

. The Kessler's sculpin is sometimes caught by commercial fishers, and it is eaten by the

Baikal seal The Baikal seal, Lake Baikal seal or (''Pusa sibirica''), is a species of earless seal endemic to Lake Baikal in Siberia, Russia. Like the Caspian seal, it is related to the Arctic ringed seal. The Baikal seal is one of the smallest true seal ...

, comprising about 0.3% of its diet in the winter and spring, and significantly more in the autumn. Kessler’s sculpin was first formally described as ''Cottus kessleri'' in 1874 by the Polish

zoologist Zoology ()The pronunciation of zoology as is usually regarded as nonstandard, though it is not uncommon. is the branch of biology that studies the animal kingdom, including the structure, embryology, evolution, classification, habits, and d ...

Benedykt Dybowski Benedykt Tadeusz Dybowski (12 May 183331 January 1930) was a Polish naturalist and physician. Life Benedykt Dybowski was born in Adamaryni, within the Minsk Governorate of the Russian Empire to Polish nobility. He was the brother of naturalis ...

with its type locality given as Lake Baikal and the Angara, Irkut and Selenga rivers in Siberia. In 1955 the name ''Leocottus'' was posthumously published by

Dmitrii Nikolaevich Taliev Dmitrii Nikolaevich Taliev (28 May 1908 – 2 July 1952) was a Soviet Russian ichthyologist and limnologist, notable for his work on the Lake Baikal. Notable Dates (includes list of publications and short biography) * 1930 - Senior Assistant, P ...

, as a subgenus of ''

Paracottus The stone sculpin (''Paracottus knerii'') is a species of cottoid fish endemic to Russia, where it is found in Lake Baikal and surrounding tributaries as well as the Gramninskie Lakes, Lake Verkhnaya Agata and the Enisei River and various lake ...

'', but he did not designate a

type species In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specime ...

so the name was unavailable under the ICZN. In 1961 the British ichthyologist

Geoffrey Palmer Geoffrey Palmer may refer to: Politicians * Sir Geoffrey Palmer, 1st Baronet (1598–1670), English lawyer and politician *Sir Geoffrey Palmer, 3rd Baronet (1655–1732), English politician, Member of Parliament (MP) for Leicestershire *Geoffrey Pa ...

published the name in ''

The Zoological Record ''The Zoological Record'' (''ZR'') is an electronic index of zoological literature that also serves as the unofficial register of scientific names in zoology. It was started as a print publication in 1864 by the Zoological Society of London, ...

''. It is now regarded as a valid monospecific genus which was classified in the family Cottocomephoridae but the 5th edition of '' Fishes of the World'' states that this taxon forms a clade arising from within the genus '' Cottus''.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2119250 Cottinae Fish described in 1874 Taxa named by Benedykt Dybowski