Leocottus
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Kessler's sculpin (''Leocottus kesslerii'') is a
species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...
of Baikal sculpin, a freshwater fish native to
Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...
and
Mongolia Mongolia is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south and southeast. It covers an area of , with a population of 3.5 million, making it the world's List of countries and dependencies by po ...
where it occurs in
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 surrounding lakes as well as the
Selenga The Selenga ( ) or Selenge is a major river in Mongolia and Buryatia, Russia. Originating from its headwater tributaries, the Ider and the Delger mörön, it flows for before draining into Lake Baikal. The Selenga therefore makes up the most d ...
,
Angara The Angara (; ) or Angar ( мүрэн) is a major river in Siberia, which traces a course through Russia's Irkutsk Oblast and Krasnoyarsk Krai. It drains out of Lake Baikal and is the headwater tributary of the Yenisey. It is long, and has ...
and Bain Gol rivers. It is the only member of its
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 ...
. In Lake Baikal it occurs on sandy, rocky-sandy or sandy-muddy bottoms, ranging from relatively shallow water to depths of . In rivers they mainly occur in slow-flowing channels and
floodplain A floodplain or flood plain or bottomlands is an area of land adjacent to a river. Floodplains stretch from the banks of a river channel to the base of the enclosing valley, and experience flooding during periods of high Discharge (hydrolog ...
s. This species grows to a
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 , but typically is . Adults are
crepuscular In zoology, a crepuscular animal is one that is active primarily during the twilight period, being matutinal (active during dawn), vespertine (biology), vespertine/vespertinal (active during dusk), or both. This is distinguished from diurnalit ...
, and feed on
gammarid Gammaridae is a family (biology), family of Amphipoda, amphipods. In North America they are included among the folk taxonomy, folk taxonomic category of "Scud (crustacean), scuds", and otherwise gammarids is usually used as a common name. They ...
s,
chironomid Chironomidae , commonly known as non-biting midges or chironomids , are a family of Nematoceran flies with a global distribution. They are closely related to the families Ceratopogonidae, Simuliidae, and Thaumaleidae. Although many chironomid s ...
s, and young fish. Spawning takes place in May to June at depths. Eggs are deposited under stones, and the male stays guarding the eggs. The
pelagic The pelagic zone consists of the water column of the open ocean and can be further divided into regions by depth. The word ''pelagic'' is derived . The pelagic zone can be thought of as an imaginary cylinder or water column between the sur ...
larvae feed on
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 ...
. The Kessler's sculpin is sometimes caught by commercial fishers, and it is eaten by the
Baikal seal The Baikal seal (''Pusa sibirica''), also known as Lake Baikal seal or Baikal nerpa (), is a species of earless seal endemic to Lake Baikal in Siberia, Russia. The Baikal seal is one of the smallest earless/true seals, and the only exclusively ...
, comprising about 0.3% of its diet in the winter and spring, and significantly more in the autumn. Kessler’s sculpin was first formally described as ''Cottus kessleri'' in 1874 by the Polish
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 ...
Benedykt Dybowski Benedykt Tadeusz Dybowski (12 May 183331 January 1930) was a Polish naturalist and physician. Life Benedykt Dybowski was born in Adamaryni, within the Minsk Governorate of the Russian Empire to Polish nobility. He was the brother of naturalis ...
with its type locality given as Lake Baikal and the Angara, Irkut and Selenga rivers in Siberia. In 1955 the name ''Leocottus'' was posthumously published by
Dmitrii Nikolaevich Taliev Dmitrii Nikolaevich Taliev (28 May 1908 – 2 July 1952) was a Soviet Russian ichthyologist and limnologist, notable for his work on the Lake Baikal. Notable Dates Source: (includes list of publications and short biography) * 1930 - Senior Assis ...
, as a
subgenus In biology, a subgenus ( subgenera) is a taxonomic rank directly below genus. In the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, a subgeneric name can be used independently or included in a species name, in parentheses, placed between the ge ...
of '' Paracottus'', but he did not designate a
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 ...
so the name was unavailable under the
ICZN The International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN) is a widely accepted convention in zoology that rules the formal scientific naming of organisms treated as animals. It is also informally known as the ICZN Code, for its formal author, t ...
. In 1961 the British
ichthyologist Ichthyology is the branch of zoology devoted to the study of fish, including bony fish (Osteichthyes), cartilaginous fish (Chondrichthyes), and jawless fish (Agnatha). According to FishBase, 35,800 species of fish had been described as of March 2 ...
Geoffrey Palmer Geoffrey Palmer may refer to: Politicians *Sir Geoffrey Palmer, 1st Baronet (1598–1670), English lawyer and politician *Sir Geoffrey Palmer, 3rd Baronet (1655–1732), English politician, member of parliament (MP) for Leicestershire *Geoffrey Pal ...
published the name in ''
The Zoological Record ''The Zoological Record'' (''ZR'') is an electronic index of zoological literature that also serves as the unofficial register of scientific names in zoology. It was started as a print publication in 1864 by the Zoological Society of London, ...
''. It is now regarded as a valid monospecific genus which was classified in the family Cottocomephoridae but 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 ...
'' states that this taxon forms a
clade In biology, a clade (), also known as a Monophyly, monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that is composed of a common ancestor and all of its descendants. Clades are the fundamental unit of cladistics, a modern approach t ...
arising from within the genus '' Cottus''.


References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2119250 Cottinae Fish described in 1874 Taxa named by Benedykt Dybowski