Sculpin

Sculpin
Myoxocephalus octodecemspinosus
Scientific classification
Kingdom:Animalia
Phylum:Chordata
Class:Actinopterygii
Order:Scorpaeniformes
Suborder:Cottoidei
Superfamily:Cottoidea

A sculpin is a type of fish that belongs to the superfamily Cottoidea in the order Scorpaeniformes.[1] As of 2006, this superfamily contains 11 families, 149 genera, and 756 species.[2]

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.[1]

Sculpins are benthic fish, dwelling on the bottoms of water bodies. Their pectoral fins are smooth on the upper edge and webbed with sharp rays along the lower edge, a modification that makes them specialized for gripping the substrate. This adaptation helps the fish anchor in fast-flowing water.[1]

Families

Families include:[3]

References

  1. 1 2 3 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. Zoology (Jena) 115(4), 223-32.
  2. ↑ Nelson, J. S. (2006) Fishes of the World. 4th Ed. Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons.
  3. ↑ Froese, R. and D. Pauly. (Eds.) Order Summary for Scorpaeniformes. FishBase. 2011.


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.