Sculpin ID

[Scubie Doo]

Grunts and Buffalo Sculpin are easy to ID. However, I find it hard to differentiate between Great, Scalyhead, Red Irish Lords. Are there some keys to ID these Sculpins?

Thanks for your help.

[dwashbur]

Greats are a little tough, but the main tip-off is probably the length and shape of its snout. Scalyheads have a particular shape, but the best way I've found to ID them is by the three stripes in the eye. They're about the only one that has that. Males can have really big cirri between their eyes, but females don't. And Red Irish Lords have a really wide head, lots of little cirri-type things here and there, masses of gold specks in the eye, and a very distinct line of scales that wraps around its dorsal fin.

[Scubie Doo]

Thanks for the tips! I just ordered Lamb and Hanby's book. So hopefully that will help too :-) Thanks again.

[Biodiversity_Guy]

I suggest tracking down a class sponsored by REEF, taught by Janna Nichols.

She does a great job of walking through the field marks on many/most of our common species.

http://www.pnwscuba.com/critterwatchers ... s.htm#free

http://www.reef.org/

[Scubie Doo]

Good suggestion. I just ordered Lamb and Hanby's book too. Thanks for the advice.

[Chevayea]

Good idea, that's a fantastic book. Janna's REEF class is definately worth taking too. She'll give you all the little secrets on howto quickly identify those tricky little sculpin.

Here's some pointers on identifying those particular ones:
Scaley Head Sculpin:
Look at size. If it is over about 4"it is not a scaley head sculpin.
On scaley heads, look at the gills first. Males in particular will have a yellowish bar poking out from under the gill plate. Males have huge cerri (looks like moss) on their foreheadsbehind the eyes while females have lots of smaller ones that make them look a little "bristly". Again the males will have a red marking on the dorsal fin on the first few rays. Both sexes have a white spot at the base of the tail and the red rays in the eye. And like I said, they are pretty small. You'll get a feel for them once you have learned to look for those little identifiers. Here's one at Saltwater State Park


Red Irish Lord
Although they tend to be reddish and pink in color as adults, the juveniles can vary greatly. They lack bars in the eye but if you look very closely, they have some iridescent markings that look like "scales" over the pupil of the eye. They have whiskers under their jaw but lack significant cerri on the head. Their markings are prominant on the pectoral fins, just as bright as the body. They have a patch of larger scales that runs in a U shape around the dorsal. The eyes sit facing pretty much directly on the sides of their heads looking outward, not forward. I don't know about others but to me they look generally annoyed - so I look for the irritated facial expression and it gives 'em away every time.

Here's one at from Three Tree. They are EVERYWHERE at that site:


Great Sculpin
These have a much larger head-to-body ratio than the others you mentioned. The head is somewhat pointed, flat and no cerri on the head or mouth. They have a huge mouth that extends beyond the eye. The eyes sit close together. The body tapers like a teardrop from the oversized head and they grow pretty large for a sculpin. They are ugly...(sorry guys, but ya are).



Here's more pics of each one:
Scaley Head Sculpin | Red Irish Lord | Great Sculpin

Feel free to take a look at the sculpin gallery of my website too. It will help you get a feel for 'em.

P.S. How'd I do Janna?

[nwscubamom]

Wow, Jeremy, that was really well done!!!

Ever notice how Great Sculpins have little parasites on them too? Those little dudes with the two prongs that stick out?

BTW, Jeremy just took and passed with flying colors his REEF level 3 test!!!

- Janna