| PHYLUM:
Chordata; CLASS: Osteichthyes; SUPERORDER: Teleostei
FAMILY: Cottidae
GENUS: Myoxocephalus SPECIES: thompsoni DESCRIBER:
Girard
Position
of Myoxocephalus
thompsoni in
worldwide arrangement of fish species.
What
are
DEEPWATER SCULPINS?
Deepwater
Sculpins are small, 50 - 75 mm (2 - 3 in), slightly elongate
fish with distinct flattened tops of heads in the family
Cottidae. Their heads are flattened dorsoventrally and
expanded at the gill covers with 4 pre-opercular spines.
They are grey-brown on their backs and much lighter on
their bellies. Their backs and sides have a light mottling
with 4 to 7 distinct, dark, saddle-like marks. They are
found in deep water in deep lakes in an arc extending
from the Northwest Territories to Saskatchewan to Manitoba
to Ontario and into Québec. Deepwater Sculpins
eat opossum
shrimp, aquatic insect larvae, aquatic worms and
various aquatic crustacea.
EARLY
LIFE HISTORY of DEEPWATER
SCULPINS:
Spawning Season of Adult DEEPWATER SCULPINS:
It is not certain when deepwater sculpins spawn but babies
(larvae) are regularly caught in spring, April and May.
Where DEEPWATER SCULPIN Eggs are Found:
It is not certain where their eggs are laid but perhaps
in deep water.
Characteristics
of Eggs: The
eggs of DEEPWATER
SCULPINS have not been described.
Size of Babies at Hatching:
Ca. 8 - 9 mm.
Movements of DEEPWATER SCULPIN Babies
after hatching:
Baby DEEPWATER SCULPINS hatch from eggs somewhere
in lakes, probably in nests like other sculpins,
and swim or move up into open limnetic areas in small
numbers
(Ref. 17, 26, 27).
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