The long-spined bullhead (''Taurulus bubalis''), also known as the long-spined sea-scorpion, and the long-spined scorpion fish is a

coastal fish Coastal fish, also called inshore fish or neritic fish, inhabit the sea between the shoreline and the edge of the continental shelf. Since the continental shelf is usually less than deep, it follows that pelagic coastal fish are generally epi ...

of the sculpin family

Cottidae The Cottidae are a family of fish in the superfamily Cottoidea, the sculpins. It is the largest sculpin family, with about 275 species in 70 genera.Kane, E. A. and T. E. Higham. (2012)Life in the flow lane: differences in pectoral fin morphology ...

, inhabiting marine waters of Europe.

Description

The longspined bullhead is a small fish with a thick, tapering body and a large head and resembles the

shorthorn sculpin ''Myoxocephalus scorpius'', typically known as the shorthorn sculpin or bull-rout, is a species of fish in the family Cottidae. It is a demersal species of the Northern Atlantic and adjacent subarctic and Arctic seas.

(''Myoxocephalus scorpius''). It has two spines on each side on the gill cover, the front one extending further than the rear one. The skin is not clad in scales. There is a row of bony tubercles running along the flank on the lateral line and there are backward sloping bony tubercles on the crown of the head. It has a variety of colours ranging from shades of brown or olive green, with cream blotches and four dark, vertical bands. The belly is pale bluish-green but becomes suffused with red in males in the breeding season.

Behavior

Bullhead are

predators Predation is a biological interaction where one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation (which usually do not kill th ...

that will eat prawns, molluscs and small fish such as

gobies Gobiidae or gobies is a family of bony fish in the order Gobiiformes, one of the largest fish families comprising more than 2,000 species in more than 200 genera. Most of gobiid fish are relatively small, typically less than in length, and the ...

and

blennies Blenny (from the Greek and , mucus, slime) is a common name for many types of fish, including several families of percomorph marine, brackish, and some freshwater fish sharing similar morphology and behaviour. Six families are considered "t ...

. Despite their small size they are aggressive and will attack fish bigger than themselves. They lie in wait for prey,

camouflage Camouflage is the use of any combination of materials, coloration, or illumination for concealment, either by making animals or objects hard to see, or by disguising them as something else. Examples include the leopard's spotted coat, the b ...

d against rocks and weed before striking out at anything that passes. Like all fish in the family

, the bullhead does not have a swim bladder, meaning that it sinks as soon as it stops swimming. Breeding takes place in early spring and fertilisation is internal, the

eggs Humans and human ancestors have scavenged and eaten animal eggs for millions of years. Humans in Southeast Asia had domesticated chickens and harvested their eggs for food by 1,500 BCE. The most widely consumed eggs are those of fowl, especial ...

are laid in algae and are guarded by the adults. Once the fry hatch, they go offshore for a while, before returning to the coast. The reproduction of this species has not been fully studied however. They can be found from tidal areas to down, though they are most common at the coast.The Pocket Guide to Saltwater Fishes of Britain and Europe

Other names

Other English names for this species include sea scorpion, bullhead, rockfish, rock sculpin, scorpion fish, clobberhead.

References

* * : ''Taurulus bubalis''
Long-spined Bullhead
(ukonline, aquarium-pages) {{Taxonbar, from=Q1507426 longspined bullhead Marine fish of Europe Monotypic fish genera longspined bullhead