A sculpin is a type of fish that belongs to the superfamily Cottoidea in the order Scorpaeniformes. As of 2006, this superfamily contains 7 families, 94 genera, and 387 species.
The fish family Psychrolutidae contains over 35 recognized species in 8 genera. This family consists of bottom-dwelling marine sculpins shaped like tadpoles, with large heads and bodies that taper back into small, flat tails. The skin is loosely attached and movable, and the layer underneath it is gelatinous. The eyes are placed high on the head, focused forward closer to the tip of the snout. Members of the family generally have large, leaf-like pectoral fins and lack scales, although some species are covered with soft spines. This is important to the species as the depths in which they live are highly pressurized and they are ambush/opportunistic/foraging predators that do not expend energy unless they are forced to. The blobfish has a short, broad tongue and conical teeth that are slightly recurved and are arranged in bands in irregular rows along the premaxillaries; canines are completely absent. Teeth are nonexistent on the palatines and vomer; which make up the hard palate. The blobfish also has a set of specialized pharyngeal teeth that are well developed and paired evenly along the upper and lower portions of the pharyngeal arch. These specialized teeth may aid in the breakdown of food due to the very strategic dependency on whatever food falls from above.
Antipodocottus is a genus of marine ray-finned fishes belonging to the family Cottidae, the typical sculpins. These fishes are found in the western Pacific Ocean. This is the only genus of Cottids represented in the Southern Hemisphere, although their classification in the Cottidae is not universally accepted.
The pale toadfish is a fathead sculpin of the family Psychrolutidae, found on the continental shelf around New Zealand, between 250 and 1,000 metres deep. It is up to 30 cm long.
The dark toadfish, Neophrynichthys latus, is a fathead of the family Psychrolutidae, found on the continental shelf around New Zealand.
Psychrolutes is a genus of fish of the family Psychrolutidae. Though found predominantly in the deep sea, a handful of species are present in the intertidal regions of the North Pacific rim. In June 2003, During the NORFANZ Expedition north-west of New Zealand, scientists trawled a specimen of P. microporos at a depth between 1,013 metres (3,323 ft) and 1,340 metres (4,400 ft) on the Norfolk Ridge.
Psychrolutes microporos is a species of deepwater marine fish in the family Psychrolutidae, commonly known as a blobfish or fathead. It is found in the abyssal zone in waters around Australia and New Zealand.
Clinocottus is a genus of marine ray-finned fishes belonging to the family Cottidae, the typical sculpins. They are nearshore benthic fishes native to the northeastern Pacific Ocean. They are mentioned as sharpnose sculpins.
Artedius is a genus of marine ray-finned fishes belonging to the family Cottidae, the typical sculpins. These fishes are found in the northern Pacific Ocean.
Bero elegans is a species of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Cottidae, the typical sculpins. This species is found in the northwestern Pacific Ocean. This species grows to a length of 20 centimetres (7.9 in) TL. It is the only known member of the genus Bero.
Oligocottus is a genus of marine ray-finned fishes belonging to the family Cottidae, the typical sculpins. These sculpins are found in the northern and eastern Pacific Ocean.
Ambophthalmos is a genus of marine ray+finned fish belonging to the family Psychrolutidae. These fishes are found in the southwestern Pacific Ocean.
Cottunculus is a genus of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Psychrolutidae. These fishes are found in the Atlantic, Pacific and Arctic oceans.
Malacocottus is a genus of fatheads native to the northern Pacific Ocean. Malacocottus are typically occupied in the benthic zone near the bottom of the northern Pacific Ocean.
Neophrynichthys is a genus of fatheads native to the southwestern Pacific Ocean waters around New Zealand.
Cottunculus microps, the polar sculpin, is a species of fathead sculpin, a deepwater fish found in the North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans. It was first described in 1875 by the Norwegian zoologist Robert Collett, curator of the Natural History Museum at the University of Oslo.
The spinynose sculpin is a species of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Cottidae, the typical sculpins. It is found in the northeastern Pacific Ocean from Alaska south to Washington and the San Juan Islands. The spinynose sculpin is the only species in the monospecific genus Asemichthys. This sculpin lays its eggs on the egg masses of the buffalo sculpin, thought to be a strategy to take advantage of the larger fish’s egg guarding behaviour.
Ambophthalmos eurystigmatephoros is a species of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Psychrolutidae. This species is found in the southwestern Pacific Ocean off New Zealand at depths of 230 to 282 m.
