Tidepool sculpin • Oligocottus maculosus
Identification
The tidepool sculpin is variable in colour (often green or reddish-brown) and somewhat mottled, with five irregular dark patches, or 'saddles,' lining its back. It has a single forked spine on its gill cover, and cirri (hair-like projections) on the top of its head but not the snout. It grows to 9 cm in length.
Habitat & Range
This is the most common sculpin species to encounter, and is often seen in shallow areas, under rocks, and in tidepools along rocky shorelines. It is found in sheltered areas of the intertidal to a depth of only 9 m. Its range extends from the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands to southern California.
Similar Species
The variable colour and similarity to other sculpins can make this species tricky to correctly ID. Other small sculpin species with a similar shape also have saddle patch spots lining their backs, including the saddleback sculpin (Oligocottus rimensis) and the scalyhead sculpin (Artedius harringtoni). The gill spines and head cirri of both species are different from those of the tidepool sculpin. These species are much less common to encounter, so a sculpin found easily in a tidepool or the rocky intertidal, and fitting this description, is most likely a tidepool sculpin.
Intriguing Info
The tidepool sculpin can tolerate high temperatures and low salinities, so getting trapped in very small tidepools isn't necessarily as dire a circumstance as beachgoing 'rescuers' may imagine.
iNaturalist
https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/67629-Oligocottus-maculosus
The tidepool sculpin is variable in colour (often green or reddish-brown) and somewhat mottled, with five irregular dark patches, or 'saddles,' lining its back. It has a single forked spine on its gill cover, and cirri (hair-like projections) on the top of its head but not the snout. It grows to 9 cm in length.
Habitat & Range
This is the most common sculpin species to encounter, and is often seen in shallow areas, under rocks, and in tidepools along rocky shorelines. It is found in sheltered areas of the intertidal to a depth of only 9 m. Its range extends from the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands to southern California.
Similar Species
The variable colour and similarity to other sculpins can make this species tricky to correctly ID. Other small sculpin species with a similar shape also have saddle patch spots lining their backs, including the saddleback sculpin (Oligocottus rimensis) and the scalyhead sculpin (Artedius harringtoni). The gill spines and head cirri of both species are different from those of the tidepool sculpin. These species are much less common to encounter, so a sculpin found easily in a tidepool or the rocky intertidal, and fitting this description, is most likely a tidepool sculpin.
Intriguing Info
The tidepool sculpin can tolerate high temperatures and low salinities, so getting trapped in very small tidepools isn't necessarily as dire a circumstance as beachgoing 'rescuers' may imagine.
iNaturalist
https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/67629-Oligocottus-maculosus
References
Froese, R. and Kesner-Reyes, K. Oligocottus maculosus Girard,1856 Tidepool sculpin. FishBase. Accessed 29/09/2014.
Harbo, R. M. (1999). Whelks to whales: Coastal marine life of the Pacific Northwest. Madeira Park, BC: Harbour Publishing. P. 210.
Lamb, A. and Edgell, P. Coastal Fishes of the Pacific Northwest. Revised. (2010). Madeira Park, BC: Harbour Publishing. P. 207.
Authors and editors of page
Kelly Fretwell and Brian Starzomski (2014).
Froese, R. and Kesner-Reyes, K. Oligocottus maculosus Girard,1856 Tidepool sculpin. FishBase. Accessed 29/09/2014.
Harbo, R. M. (1999). Whelks to whales: Coastal marine life of the Pacific Northwest. Madeira Park, BC: Harbour Publishing. P. 210.
Lamb, A. and Edgell, P. Coastal Fishes of the Pacific Northwest. Revised. (2010). Madeira Park, BC: Harbour Publishing. P. 207.
Authors and editors of page
Kelly Fretwell and Brian Starzomski (2014).