The spinynose sculpin (''Asemichthys taylori'') 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. It is found in the northeastern Pacific Ocean from

Alaska Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...

south to

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 ...

and the

San Juan Islands The San Juan Islands is an archipelago in the Pacific Northwest of the United States between the U.S. state of Washington and Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. The San Juan Islands are part of Washington state, and form the core of ...

. The spinynose sculpin is the only species in the

monospecific genus In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispe ...

''Asemichthys''. This sculpin lays its eggs on the egg masses of the buffalo sculpin (''

Enophrys bison ''Enophrys bison'', the buffalo sculpin, is a species of marine ray-finned fish, belonging to the Family (biology), family Cottidae, the typical sculpins. It is found in the eastern Pacific Ocean. Taxonomy The buffalo sculpin was first formal ...

''), thought to be a strategy to take advantage of the larger fish’s egg guarding behaviour.

Taxonomy

The spinynose sculpin was first formally described as ''Radulinus taylori'' in 1912 by the American ichthyologists

David Starr Jordan David Starr Jordan (January 19, 1851 – September 19, 1931) was the founding president of Stanford University, serving from 1891 to 1913. He was an ichthyologist during his research career. Prior to serving as president of Stanford Universi ...

and

Charles Henry Gilbert Charles Henry Gilbert (December 5, 1859 in Rockford, Illinois – April 20, 1928 in Palo Alto, California) was a pioneer ichthyologist and Fisheries science, fishery biologist of particular significance to natural history of the western Unit ...

. In the same year Gilbert reclassified this species in the

''Asemichthys''. The 5th edition of ''

Fishes of the World ''Fishes of the World'' is a standard reference for the systematics of fishes. It was first written in 1976 by the American ichthyologist Joseph S. Nelson (1937–2011). Now in its fifth edition (2016), the work is a comprehensive overview of t ...

'' classifies the genus ''Asemichthys'' within the

subfamily In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus. Standard nomenclature rules end botanical subfamily names with "-oideae", and zo ...

Cottinae Cottinae is a subfamily of ray-finned fishes belonging to the Family (biology), family Cottidae, the typical sculpins. The subfamily has species throughout the northern hemisphere in both marine and freshwater habitats. Genera The following gener ...

of the family Cottidae, however, other authors classify the genus within the subfamily Radulininae of the family

Psychrolutidae The fish family Psychrolutidae (commonly known as blobfishes, flathead sculpins, or tadpole sculpins) contains over 35 recognized species in 8 genera. This family consists of bottom-dwelling marine sculpins shaped like tadpoles, with large heads ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q21446067, from2=Q28657220 Cottinae Fish described in 1912 Taxa named by David Starr Jordan Taxa named by Charles Henry Gilbert