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PHYLUM:
Chordata; CLASS: Osteichthyes SUPERORDER: Teleostei
FAMILY Cottidae
GENUS: Cottus;
SPECIES: bairdi; DESCRIBER:
Girard
Position
of Cottus
bairdi in
worldwide arrangement of fish species.
What
are MOTTLED
SCULPINS?
Mottled Sculpins are small,
ca. 7.5 cm (3 in.) total length sculpins of the family
Cottidae with heads flattened dorso- ventrally and
expanded anteriorly and with body depth about equal
to body width anteriorly, but posterior part is laterally
compressed. They have no scales, but instead small
prickles occur on small patches behind the pectoral
fins. Mottled sculpins occur in cool streams and lakes
in Canada discontinuously in the Columbia River system
and in the Great Lakes basin. They are bottom feeders
eating mainly mayfly and stonefly larvae and nymphs
and caddisfly larvae.
EARLY
LIFE HISTORY of MOTTLED SCULPINS:
Spawning
Season of Adult MOTTLED SCULPINS: Spring, usually May
to June depending upon the lake or stream temperature chronology.
Where MOTTLED SCULPIN Eggs are Found: Males
select nesting sites under rocks or ledges or even in soil
cavities. Females deposit eggs on the ceiling of the nesting
site in a mass. Males fertilize them and remain to guard
and fan the eggs.
Characteristics of Eggs: Demersal,
adhesive, yolk white to orange– yellow, single
oil globule, diameter of eggs 1.0 mm to 3.0 mm.
Size
of Babies at Hatching: ca.
6.3 mm to 8 mm ca., at 15 to 35 days incubation.
Movements of MOTTLED SCULPIN Babies after hatching: Baby
MOTTLED SCULPINS hatch in nests and remain in and above
the nest while absorbing yolk. At ca. 8 mm to 9
mm length they begin to swim singly around the
body of water, most near the bottom but a few stragglers
are caught in upper limnetic regions.
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