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 suggest transitions in station-holding demand across species of marine sculpin.
''Zoology'' (Jena) 115(4), 223–32. They are referred to simply as cottids to avoid confusion with sculpins of other families. Cottids are distributed worldwide, especially in boreal and colder

temperate climate In geography, the temperate climates of Earth occur in the middle latitudes (approximately 23.5° to 66.5° N/S of the Equator), which span between the tropics and the polar regions of Earth. These zones generally have wider temperature ra ...

s. The center of diversity is the northern

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...

. Species occupy many types of aquatic habitats, including marine and

fresh water Fresh water or freshwater is any naturally occurring liquid or frozen water containing low concentrations of dissolved salt (chemistry), salts and other total dissolved solids. The term excludes seawater and brackish water, but it does include ...

s, and deep and shallow zones. A large number occur in near-shore marine habitat types, such as

kelp forest Kelp forests are underwater areas with a high density of kelp, which covers a large part of the world's coastlines. Smaller areas of anchored kelp are called kelp beds. They are recognized as one of the most productive and dynamic ecosystems on E ...

s and shallow

reef A reef is a ridge or shoal of rock, coral, or similar relatively stable material lying beneath the surface of a natural body of water. Many reefs result from natural, abiotic component, abiotic (non-living) processes such as deposition (geol ...

s. They can be found in

estuaries An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime environm ...

and in bodies of fresh water. Most cottids are small fish, under in length. The earliest

fossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserve ...

remains of cottids are otoliths potentially assignable to '' Enophrys euglyphus'' from the

Early Eocene In the geologic timescale the Ypresian is the oldest age (geology), age or lowest stage (stratigraphy), stratigraphic stage of the Eocene. It spans the time between , is preceded by the Thanetian Age (part of the Paleocene) and is followed by th ...

-aged

London Clay The London Clay Formation is a Sediment#Shores and shallow seas, marine formation (geology), geological formation of Ypresian (early Eocene Epoch, c. 54-50 million years ago) age which outcrop, crops out in the southeast of England. The London C ...

of England. The earliest known skeletal remains of cottids are of '' Cottus cervicornis'' (taxonomy uncertain) from the

Early Oligocene The Rupelian is, in the geologic timescale, the older of two age (geology), ages or the lower of two stage (stratigraphy), stages of the Oligocene epoch (geology), Epoch/series (stratigraphy), Series. It spans the time between . It is preceded b ...

of Belgium. Cottids become more common in the fossil record from the

Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first epoch (geology), geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and mea ...

onwards.

Taxonomy

The Cottidae was first recognised as a taxonomic grouping by the French zoologist

Charles Lucien Bonaparte Charles Lucien Jules Laurent Bonaparte, 2nd Prince of Canino and Musignano (24 May 1803 – 29 July 1857) was a French naturalist and ornithology, ornithologist, and a nephew of Napoleon. Lucien and his wife had twelve children, including Cardinal ...

in 1831. The composition of the family and its taxonomic relationships have been the subject of some debate among taxonomists. 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 ...

'' retains a rather conservative classification, although it includes the families Comephoridae and Abbyssocottidae as subfamilies of the Cottidae recognising that these taxa are very closely related to some of the freshwater sculpins in the genus '' Cottus''. Other workers have found that Cottidae is largely restricted to the freshwater sculpins, i.e. ''Cottus'', ''Leptocottus'', ''Mesocottus'', ''Trachidermus'', and the species flock in and around

Lake Baikal Lake Baikal is a rift lake and the deepest lake in the world. It is situated in southern Siberia, Russia between the Federal subjects of Russia, federal subjects of Irkutsk Oblast, Irkutsk Oblasts of Russia, Oblast to the northwest and the Repu ...

, and the marine genera are placed in the Psychrolutidae.

Genera

The genera of the family include: * Subfamily

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 ...

Bonaparte, 1831 ** '' Alcichthys''

Jordan Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. Jordan is bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the east, Saudi Arabia to the south, and Israel and the occupied Palestinian ter ...

& Starks, 1904 ** '' Andriashevicottus'' Fedorov, 1990 ** '' Antipodocottus'' Bolin, 1952 ** '' Archistes'' Jordan & Gilbert, 1898 ** '' Argyrocottus'' Herzenstein, 1892 ** '' Artediellichthys'' Fedorov, 1973 ** '' Artediellina'' Taranetz, 1941 ** '' Artedielloides'' Soldatov, 1922 ** '' Artediellus'' Jordan, 1885 ** '' Artedius'' Girard, 1856 ** '' Ascelichthys'' Jordan & Gilbert, 1880 ** '' Asemichthys'' Gilbert, 1912 ** '' Astrocottus'' Bolin, 1936 ** '' Atopocottus'' Bolin, 1936 ** '' Bero'' Jordan & Starks, 1904 ** '' Bolinia'' Yabe, 1991 ** '' Chitonotus'' Lockington, 1879 ** '' Clinocottus''

Gill A gill () is a respiration organ, respiratory organ that many aquatic ecosystem, aquatic organisms use to extract dissolved oxygen from water and to excrete carbon dioxide. The gills of some species, such as hermit crabs, have adapted to allow r ...

, 1861 ** '' Cottiusculus'' Jordan & Starks, 1904 ** '' Cottocomephorus'' Pellegrin, 1900 ** '' Cottus''

Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné,#Blunt, Blunt (2004), p. 171. was a Swedish biologist and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the modern system of naming o ...

1758 Events January–March * January 1 – Swedish biologist Carl Linnaeus (Carl von Linné) publishes in Stockholm the first volume (''Animalia'') of the 10th edition of ''Systema Naturae'', the starting point of modern zoologic ...

** '' Daruma'' Jordan & Starks 1904 ** '' Enophrys'' Swainson, 1839 ** '' Furcina'' Jordan & Starks, 1904 ** '' Gymnocanthus'' Swainson, 1839 ** '' Icelinus'' Jordan, 1885 ** '' Icelus'' Krøyer, 1845 ** †'' Kerocottus'' Kimmel, 1975 (fossil; late

Neogene The Neogene ( ,) is a geologic period and system that spans 20.45 million years from the end of the Paleogene Period million years ago ( Mya) to the beginning of the present Quaternary Period million years ago. It is the second period of th ...

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

, USA) ** '' Leiocottus'' Girard, 1856 ** '' Leocottus'' Palmer, 1961 ** '' Lepidobero'' K. J. Qin & X. B. Jin, 1992 ** '' Leptocottus'' Girard, 1854 ** '' Megalocottus'' Gill, 1861 ** '' Mesocottus'' Gratzianov, 1907 ** '' Micrenophrys'' Andriashev, 1954 ** '' Microcottus'' Schmidt, 1940 ** '' Myoxocephalus'' Tilesius, 1811 ** '' Ocynectes'' Jordan & Starks, 1904 ** '' Oligocottus'' Girard 1856 ** '' Orthonopias'' Starks &

Mann Mann may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * ''Mann'' (film), a 1999 Indian Hindi-language romantic drama * Mann (chess), a variant chess piece * ''Mann'' (magazine), a Norwegian magazine * Mann (rapper), Dijon Shariff Thames (born 19 ...

, 1911 ** '' Paracottus'' Taliev, 1949 ** '' Phallocottus'' Schultz, 1938 ** '' Phasmatocottus'' Bolin, 1936 ** '' Porocottus'' Gill, 1859 ** '' Pseudoblennius'' Temminck & Schlegel, 1850 ** '' Radulinopsis'' Soldatov & Lindberg, 1930 ** '' Radulinus'' Gilbert, 1890 ** '' Rastrinus'' Jordan & Evermann, 1896 ** '' Ricuzenius'' Jordan & Starks, 1904 ** '' Ruscarius'' Jordan & Starks, 1895 ** '' Sigmistes'' Rutter, 1898″ ** '' Stelgistrum'' Jordan & Gilbert, 1898 ** '' Stlengis'' Jordan & Starks, 1904 ** '' Synchirus''

Bean A bean is the seed of some plants in the legume family (Fabaceae) used as a vegetable for human consumption or animal feed. The seeds are often preserved through drying (a ''pulse''), but fresh beans are also sold. Dried beans are traditi ...

, 1890 ** '' Taurocottus'' Soldatov & Pavlenko, 1915 ** '' Taurulus'' Gratzianov, 1907 ** '' Trachidermis'' Heckel, 1837 ** '' Thyriscus'' Gilbert & Burke, 1912 ** '' Trichocottus'' Soldatov & Pavlenko, 1915 ** '' Triglops'' Reinhardt, 1830 ** '' Vellitor'' Jordan & Starks, 1904 ** '' Zesticelus'' Jordan & Evermann, 1896 * subfamily Comephorinae Bonaparte, 1850 ** '' Comephorus'' Lacépède, 1800 * subfamily Abyssocottinae

Berg Berg may refer to: People *Berg (surname), a surname (including a list of people with the name) * General Berg (disambiguation) * Berg Ng (born 1960), Hong Kong actor * Berg (footballer, born 1963), Ninimbergue dos Santos Guerra, Brazilian footba ...

, 1907 ** '' Abyssocottus'' Berg, 1906 ** ''

Asprocottus ''Asprocottus'' is a genus of ray-finned fish belonging to the Family (biology), family Cottidae, the typical sculpins. These fishes are endemism, endemic to endemism, endemic to Lake Baikal in Russia. Species There are currently eight recognise ...

'' Berg, 1906 ** '' Batrachocottus'' Berg, 1903 ** '' Cyphocottus'' Sideleva, 2003 ** '' Cottinella'' Berg, 1907 ** '' Limnocottus'' Berg, 1906 ** '' Neocottus'' Sideleva, 1982 ** '' Procottus'' Gratzianov, 1902

References

{{Authority control Perciformes families Extant Oligocene first appearances Taxa named by Charles Lucien Bonaparte

Taxonomy

Genera

See also

References