The fluffy sculpin (''Oligocottus snyderi'') or Lizard Fish is a fish species in the

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 ...

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 ...

. It inhabits the coastal northwestern Pacific Ocean, ranging from

Kodiak, Alaska Kodiak (Alutiiq language, Alutiiq: ) is the main city and one of seven communities on Kodiak Island in Kodiak Island Borough, Alaska, Kodiak Island Borough, Alaska. All commercial transportation between the island's communities and the outside ...

Baja California Baja California, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California, is a state in Mexico. It is the northwesternmost of the 32 federal entities of Mexico. Before becoming a state in 1952, the area was known as the North Territory of B ...

(Mexico). Individuals reach up to in length, and are commonly found in

tidepool A tide pool or rock pool is a shallow pool of seawater that forms on the rocky intertidal shore. These pools typically range from a few inches to a few feet deep and a few feet across. Many of these pools exist as separate bodies of water only ...

s, often associated with algae.

Description

The fluffy sculpin grows to a length of about . The dorsal fin has 7 to 9 spines and 17 to 20 soft rays, and the anal fin has no spines but 12 to 15 soft rays. In the male, the first anal ray is enlarged and the first three rays are separated from the others. The body is smooth and lacks scales. There is a short spine on the snout with a cirrus beside it, and tufts of cirri on the top of the head, along the lateral line and at the base of the dorsal fin. The colour of this fish is variable, being anything from green to pink or reddish-brown.

Distribution and habitat

The fluffy sculpin is native to the western coast of North America, its range extending from

. It is found on rocky coasts, being present from the mid

littoral zone The littoral zone, also called litoral or nearshore, is the part of a sea, lake, or river that is close to the shore. In coastal ecology, the littoral zone includes the intertidal zone extending from the high water mark (which is rarely flood ...

to the shallow

subtidal zone The neritic zone (or sublittoral zone) is the relatively shallow part of the ocean above the drop-off of the continental shelf, approximately in depth. From the point of view of marine biology it forms a relatively stable and well-illuminated ...

. When the tide is out, it occupies rock pools on the lower shore. When the tide comes in, it forages over a wider area. The fluffy sculpin occupies much the same range as the tidepool sculpin (''Oligocottus maculosus'') but the two do not seem to be in direct competition for resources as the fluffy sculpin chooses pools further down the beach where the water remains cooler. Both species can return to their home pool if displaced to a nearby locality outside their immediate home range.

Ecology

The fluffy sculpin is a

predator Predation is a biological interaction in which one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common List of feeding behaviours, feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation ...

, the diet consisting mainly of

amphipods Amphipoda () is an order (biology), order of malacostracan crustaceans with no carapace and generally with laterally compressed bodies. Amphipods () range in size from and are mostly detritivores or scavengers. There are more than 10,700 amphip ...

and polychaete worms. Larger individuals also feed on small

shrimp A shrimp (: shrimp (American English, US) or shrimps (British English, UK)) is a crustacean with an elongated body and a primarily Aquatic locomotion, swimming mode of locomotion – typically Decapods belonging to the Caridea or Dendrobranchi ...

s and

crab Crabs are decapod crustaceans of the infraorder Brachyura (meaning "short tailed" in Greek language, Greek), which typically have a very short projecting tail-like abdomen#Arthropoda, abdomen, usually hidden entirely under the Thorax (arthropo ...

s. Spawning takes place in winter and spring. The male's first anal ray is prehensile and is used as a clasper to hold onto the female. Fertilisation is internal, with clusters of eggs being laid on rocks and guarded by the male. The larvae are

plankton Plankton are the diverse collection of organisms that drift in Hydrosphere, water (or atmosphere, air) but are unable to actively propel themselves against ocean current, currents (or wind). The individual organisms constituting plankton are ca ...

ic in the open sea and

metamorphosis Metamorphosis is a biological process by which an animal physically develops including birth transformation or hatching, involving a conspicuous and relatively abrupt change in the animal's body structure through cell growth and different ...

into juvenile fish probably occurs at times when the upwelling of nutrient-rich water occurs along this coastline. If conditions deteriorate in the pool inhabited by the fluffy sculpin when the tide is out, it is able to leave the water and breathe air. It is less tolerant of adverse conditions than the tidepool sculpin.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:sculpin, fluffy snyderi Western American coastal fauna

Oligocottus snyderi The fluffy sculpin (''Oligocottus snyderi'') or Lizard Fish is a fish species in the sculpin family Cottidae. It inhabits the coastal northwestern Pacific Ocean, ranging from Kodiak, Alaska to Baja California (Mexico). Individuals reach up to in ...