Sculpin

For the beer, see Ballast Point Brewing Company.

Not to be confused with skulpin.

Sculpin Temporal range: Early Eocene–present PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Myoxocephalus octodecemspinosus
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Order:	Perciformes
Suborder:	Cottoidei
Superfamily:	Cottoidea Gill, 1889 [1]

A sculpin is a type of fish that belongs to the superfamily Cottoidea in the order Perciformes. ^[2] As of 2025, this superfamily contains 5 families, 112 genera, and 405 species. ^{[3] [4]}

Sculpins occur in many types of habitat, including ocean and freshwater zones. They live in rivers, submarine canyons, kelp forests, and shallow littoral habitat types, such as tidepools. ^[2]

Families and subfamilies

Families include: ^[5]

• Family Rhamphocottidae Jordan & Gilbert, 1883 (horsehead sculpins)
• Family Cottidae Bonaparte, 1831 (sculpins)
• Family Psychrolutidae Günther, 1861 (marine sculpins)
• Family Jordaniidae Jordan & Evermann, 1898 (longfin sculpins)
• Family Agonidae Swainson, 1839 (poachers)
  • Subfamily Agoninae Swainson, 1839 (sturgeon poachers)
  • Subfamily Anoplagoninae Gill, 1861 (alligator fishes)
  • Subfamily Bathyagoninae Lindberg, 1971 (starsnouts)
  • Subfamily Brachyopsinae Jordan & Evermann, 1898 (uppermouth poachers)
  • Subfamily Hypsagoninae Gill, 1861 (dragon poachers)
  • Subfamily Bothragoninae Lindberg, 1971 (rockheads)
  • Subfamily Hemitripterinae Gill, 1865 (sailfin sculpins)

Gallery

• 
  Cottus caeruleomentum
• 
  Pseudoblennius zonostigma
• 
  Nautichthys oculofasciatus
• 
  Ambophthalmos angustus

References

1. Mamoru Yabe (1985). "Comaprative Osteology and Myology of the Superfamily Cottoidea Pisces:Scorpaeniformes), and its Phylogenetic Classification". Memoirs off the Faculty of Fishes Hokkaido University. 32 (1): 1–130. S2CID   81835479.
2. Kane, E. A. and T. E. Higham. (2012). Life in the flow lane: differences in pectoral fin morphology suggest transitions in station-holding demand across species of marine sculpin. Archived 2020-10-22 at the Wayback Machine Zoology (Jena) 115(4), 223–32.
3. J. S. Nelson; T. C. Grande; M. V. H. Wilson (2016). Fishes of the World (5th ed.). Wiley. pp. 467–495. ISBN   978-1-118-34233-6. Archived from the original on 2019-04-08. Retrieved 2022-12-19.
4. "CAS - Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes - Genera/Species by Family/Subfamily". researcharchive.calacademy.org. Retrieved 2025-08-09.
5. Fricke, R.; Eschmeyer, W. N.; Van der Laan, R. (2025). "ESCHMEYER'S CATALOG OF FISHES: CLASSIFICATION". California Academy of Sciences . Retrieved 2025-02-10.