''Artedius notospilotus'', or the bonehead sculpin, is a species of marine

ray-finned fish Actinopterygii (; ), members of which are known as ray-finned fish or actinopterygians, is a class of bony fish that comprise over 50% of living vertebrate species. They are so called because of their lightly built fins made of webbings of sk ...

belonging to the

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

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 ...

, the typical

sculpin A sculpin is a type of fish that belongs to the superfamily Cottoidea in the order Perciformes.Kane, E. A. and T. E. Higham. (2012)Life in the flow lane: differences in pectoral fin morphology suggest transitions in station-holding demand acros ...

s. The bonehead sculpin is characterized by its unique head shape, which resembles a blunt "bone" or ridge. Another distinguishing characteristic is the lack of scales under the anterior portion of the orbit of their eye. They are distinguished from other species of sculpin by their pigmentation, with the body ranging in shades of brown, gray, and green in a honeycomb pattern. The species lack scales below the eyes but are found on the head and the ridge of the back. Their broad head features conspicuous spines and large dorsal eyes with a smooth body. Their dorsal fin has 14–16 rays, their anal fin has 11–13 rays, and the pectoral fin has 15–17 rays. A black spot can typically be located between the first and second spines of the dorsal fin and the end of the fin. Commonly found in the

intertidal zone The intertidal zone or foreshore is the area above water level at low tide and underwater at high tide; in other words, it is the part of the littoral zone within the tidal range. This area can include several types of habitats with various ...

to depths of 170 feet, the species has a range extending from the

Puget Sound Puget Sound ( ; ) is a complex estuary, estuarine system of interconnected Marine habitat, marine waterways and basins located on the northwest coast of the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington. As a part of the Salish Sea, the sound ...

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

to the Baja California peninsula. Bonehead sculpin grow to 25 centimeters. Their spawning seasons are in spring and winter and their preferred nursery habitats are seawater, polyhaline, and mesohaline. It serves as the

host A host is a person responsible for guests at an event or for providing hospitality during it. Host may also refer to: Places * Host, Pennsylvania, a village in Berks County * Host Island, in the Wilhelm Archipelago, Antarctica People * ...

for '' Podocotyle enophrysi'', a species of

parasitic Parasitism is a close relationship between species, where one organism, the parasite, lives (at least some of the time) on or inside another organism, the host, causing it some harm, and is adapted structurally to this way of life. The ent ...

flatworm Platyhelminthes (from the Greek language, Greek πλατύ, ''platy'', meaning "flat" and ἕλμινς (root: ἑλμινθ-), ''helminth-'', meaning "worm") is a Phylum (biology), phylum of relatively simple bilaterian, Segmentation (biology), ...

. The bonehead sculpin has not yet been formally evaluated for conservation status.

References

External links

Bonyhead sculpin (''Artedius notospilotus'')
at the

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{{Taxonbar, from=Q2284880 notospilotus Taxa named by Charles Frédéric Girard Fish described in 1856 Fish of the Pacific Ocean Fish of the Western United States Fish of Mexican Pacific coast