''Enophrys'' is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

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 ...

es 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 sculpins. These fishes are found in the northern and eastern

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 ...

Taxonomy

''Enophrys'' was first proposed as a monospecific genus in 1839 by the English

zoologist Zoology ( , ) is the scientific study of animals. Its studies include the structure, embryology, classification, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinct, and how they interact with their ecosystems. Zoology is one ...

William Swainson William Swainson Fellow of the Linnean Society, FLS, Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS (8 October 1789 – 6 December 1855), was an English ornithologist, Malacology, malacologist, Conchology, conchologist, entomologist and artist. Life Swains ...

with its only and

type species In International_Code_of_Zoological_Nomenclature, zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the spe ...

being ''Cottus claviger''. This species had been described in 1839 by the French zoologist

Georges Cuvier Jean Léopold Nicolas Frédéric, baron Cuvier (23 August 1769 – 13 May 1832), known as Georges Cuvier (; ), was a French natural history, naturalist and zoology, zoologist, sometimes referred to as the "founding father of paleontology". Cuv ...

from

Kamchatka The Kamchatka Peninsula (, ) is a peninsula in the Russian Far East, with an area of about . The Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Okhotsk make up the peninsula's eastern and western coastlines, respectively. Immediately offshore along the Pacific ...

but it was later determined to be a

synonym A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means precisely or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are a ...

of ''Cottus diceraus'', originally described by Peter Simon Pallas in 1787, also from Kamchatka. 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 this genus within the 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 ...

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

, although others place the subfamily Myoxocephalinae within the Cottidae.

Etymology

''Enophrys'' prefixes ''phrys'', meaning "brow", with ''en'', ning "very", presumed to be a reference to the thick orbital ridge of the type species.

Species

''Enophrys'' contains 4 recognized species within it: * ''

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 ...

'' ( Girard, 1854) (Buffalo sculpin) * ''

Enophrys diceraus ''Enophrys diceraus'', the antlered sculpin, is a species of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Cottidae, the typical sculpins. This species occurs in the northern Pacific Ocean. Taxonomy ''Enophrys diceraus'' was first formally desc ...

'' (

Pallas Pallas may refer to: Astronomy * 2 Pallas asteroid ** Pallas family, a group of asteroids that includes 2 Pallas * Pallas (crater), a crater on Earth's moon Mythology * Pallas (Giant), a son of Uranus and Gaia, killed and flayed by Athena * Pa ...

, 1787) (Antlered sculpin) * ''

Enophrys lucasi ''Enophrys'' is a genus of marine ray-finned fishes belonging to the family Cottidae, the typical sculpins. These fishes are found in the northern and eastern Pacific Ocean. Taxonomy ''Enophrys'' was first proposed as a monospecific genus in 183 ...

'' (

D. S. 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 ...

& C. H. Gilbert, 1898) (Leister sculpin) * ''

Enophrys taurina ''Enophrys'' is a genus of marine ray-finned fishes belonging to the family Cottidae, the typical sculpins. These fishes are found in the northern and eastern Pacific Ocean. Taxonomy ''Enophrys'' was first proposed as a monospecific genus in 183 ...

'' C. H. Gilbert, 1914 (Bull sculpin)

Characteristics

''Enophrys'' sculpins share the possession of plates along their

lateral line The lateral line, also called the lateral line organ (LLO), is a system of sensory organs found in fish, used to detect movement, vibration, and pressure gradients in the surrounding water. The sensory ability is achieved via modified epithelia ...

s and some species have prickly scales underneath the lateral line. They also have a very long, sharp spine on the upper

preoperculum This glossary of ichthyology is a list of definitions of terms and concepts used in ichthyology, the study of fishes. A B C ...

and sharp spines on the nose. The bull sculpin is the smallest species with a maximum recorded

total length Fish measurement is the measuring of individual fish and various parts of their anatomies, for data used in many areas of ichthyology, including taxonomy and fishery biology. Overall length Standard length (SL) is the length of a fish measured f ...

of while the largest species is the buffalo sculpin which reaches a maximum published total length of .

Distribution

''Enophrys'' sculpins are only found in the northern and Eastern Pacific Oceans from the

Sea of Japan The Sea of Japan is the marginal sea between the Japanese archipelago, Sakhalin, the Korean Peninsula, and the mainland of the Russian Far East. The Japanese archipelago separates the sea from the Pacific Ocean. Like the Mediterranean Sea, it ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

References

{{Authority control Cottinae Taxa named by William Swainson