Species: Cottus rhotheus
Torrent Sculpin
Species
Encyclopedia of Puget Sound
Classification
Kingdom
Animalia
Phylum
Craniata
Class
Actinopterygii
Order
Scorpaeniformes
Family
Cottidae
Genus
Cottus
NatureServe
Classification
Informal Taxonomy
Animals, Vertebrates - Fishes - Bony Fishes - Other Bony Fishes
Formal Taxonomy
Animalia - Craniata - Actinopterygii - Scorpaeniformes - Cottidae - Cottus - Extensive geographic variability (Lee et al. 1980). Formerly included in the order Perciformes; the 1991 AFS checklist (Robins et al. 1991) followed Nelson (1984) in recognizing the order Scorpaeniformes as distinct from the Perciformes.
Ecology and Life History
Habitat Type Description
Freshwater
Migration
false - true - false - May migrate upstream to spawn.
Non-migrant
false
Locally Migrant
true
Food Comments
Young eat planktonic crustaceans and aquatic insect larvae. As they grow in size they feed mainly on insects. Fishes become increasingly important in the diet of sculpins over 55 mm (Scott and Crossman 1973).
Reproduction Comments
Spawns late spring. In British Columbia, spawns April-June. Egg production varies geographically and individually; in Newaukum Creek, Washington, females produced 165 eggs at age 2, 2,258 at age 3 (Wydoski and Whitney 1979). Sexually mature in 2 years, may live 6 years.
Length
8
Conservation Status
NatureServe Global Status Rank
G5
Global Status Last Reviewed
1996-09-06
Global Status Last Changed
1996-09-06
Distribution
Conservation Status Map
<img src="http://www.natureserve.org/explorer/servlet/GetMapGif?CA.BC=S4&US.ID=S5&US.MT=S3&US.OR=S4&US.WA=S5" alt="Conservation Status Map" style="width: 475px; height: auto;" />
Global Range
G - 200,000-2,500,000 square km (about 80,000-1,000,000 square miles) - G - Range includes Pacific Slope drainages from upper Fraser River drainage, British Columbia, to Nehalem River, Oregon, including the Columbia River drainage in British Columbia, Washington, Idaho, Montana, and Oregon (Page and Burr 2011). Reported also from Fish Lake, Harney County, Oregon, where the species evidently was introduced with stocked trout (Lee et al. 1980).
Global Range Code
G
Global Range Description
200,000-2,500,000 square km (about 80,000-1,000,000 square miles)