Sculpin ID Please

[ShadowBass]

Looks like a prickly sculpin to me. I've caught a whole ton of round gobies in Lake Michigan irked:!!!) and I'm 99% certain the fish in question is not.

As mentioned, a goby will have a fused pelvic fin, this can positively I.D. the fish.

You can usually see a goby kind of sitting up on this pelvic fin every once in awhile, where I don't see the fish in the pictures doing that. The one picture where he's sitting up a bit it's on his pectoral fins like a typical sculpin. I also don't see a hint of the fused pelvic fin though that could have to do with the angles.

 

[The TRUST]

My location is already on my left.

Seattle, WA

 

[ShadowBass]

My location is already on my left.

Seattle, WA

I'm not sure if round gobies are currently listed as present there or not, but there's potential for them being introduced anywhere in the U.S, so that doesn't mean much. You have to turn the fish over and see if there's one fused pelvic fin or two fins. If it looks like he has kind of a suction cup for a fin on his belly then it's a goby.

Like I said though, I'm 99% positive that's a sculpin.

 

[Modest_Man]

Heh. I was just trying to ID one from the Green River yesterday. Found out how hard these bastards are to identify. Mine came up as a a torrent sculpin, Cottus rhotheus, though I'm far from 100%.

What watershed were you in? Near the sound? Marine, fresh, brackish?

Here's the list for the sculpins found in Washington, I've marked off the ones that are found east of the Cascades, the ones found only in the Colombia/Snake river, and ones on the coast in red.

www.fishbase.org has the range of the others.

Order Scorpaeniformes
Cottidae: Sculpins

Cottus aleuticus, Coastrange Sculpin. West of Cascades, streams.

Cottus asper, Prickly Sculpin. Widespread, streams.

Cottus bairdi, Mottled Sculpin. Upper Columbia R. drainage, streams.

Cottus beldingi, Paiute Sculpin. Local east of Cascades, streams.

Cottus cognatus, Slimy Sculpin. Local east of Cascades, streams.

Cottus confusus, Shorthead Sculpin. Widespread N & W, streams.

Cottus gulosus, Riffle Sculpin. West of Cascades, streams.

Cottus perplexus, Reticulate Sculpin. West of Cascades, streams.

Cottus marginatus, Margined Sculpin. Blue Mountains, streams.

Cottus rhotheus, Torrent Sculpin. Widespread, streams.

Leptocottus armatus, Pacific Staghorn Sculpin. Marine, also mouths of coastal rivers.

Damn, this site doesn't have strike through.

 

[meepster]

I'm not sure if round gobies are currently listed as present there or not, but there's potential for them being introduced anywhere in the U.S, so that doesn't mean much. You have to turn the fish over and see if there's one fused pelvic fin or two fins. If it looks like he has kind of a suction cup for a fin on his belly then it's a goby.

Like I said though, I'm 99% positive that's a sculpin.

Round gobies are only known to be found in the great lakes. However, if someone caught one and brought it back and then released it when they found out it was illegal (yes, there are stupid idiots like that out there) then they might be spreading around WA.

 

[teleost]

I'm sure it's not a goby and equally sure it's a sculpin...please don't kill it

I have no experience with western sculpin and cannot help with ID from experience. That black dorsal spot really is distinct though.

Nice pics.

 

[meepster]

cottus perplexus, (I swear thats the real name!) reticulated sculpin