sculpin confirmation

spatman · Post by **spatman** » Mon Oct 29, 2007 3:32 pm

buffalo sculpin?

great sculpin?

longfin sculpin?

Seth T. · Post by **Seth T.** » Mon Oct 29, 2007 3:54 pm

I agree with the first two. Not sure about the third though. I'll check my books...

Tom Nic · Post by **Tom Nic** » Mon Oct 29, 2007 4:02 pm

Yup on all three! $\:D/$

spatman · Post by **spatman** » Mon Oct 29, 2007 4:04 pm

Tom Nic wrote:Yup on all three! $\:D/$

thanks!

Jan K · Post by **Jan K** » Mon Oct 29, 2007 4:13 pm

I think the third one is Scallyhead. Lets see what our expert says. Hello Janna ?

Seth T. · Post by **Seth T.** » Mon Oct 29, 2007 5:54 pm

I'm still not sure about the third but I'm pretty sure that it's not
Longfin. It could be a female Scalyhead or a female Roughback. It may also be a Puget Sound sculpin. This is a tough one.

Wait a minute, it's a sixgill! Duh! $\:D/$

Jan K · Post by **Jan K** » Mon Oct 29, 2007 6:15 pm

The white dot at the tail fin - mark of a Scalyhead.

Seth T. · Post by **Seth T.** » Mon Oct 29, 2007 6:20 pm

Jan K wrote:The white dot at the tail fin - mark of a Scalyhead.

Okay, I can dig it, but it's either a juvi or a female; males have a large cirrus (flap of skin) behind their eyes.

spatman · Post by **spatman** » Mon Oct 29, 2007 7:39 pm

Seth T. wrote:
Jan K wrote:The white dot at the tail fin - mark of a Scalyhead.
Okay, I can dig it, but it's either a juvi or a female; males have a large cirrus (flap of skin) behind their eyes.

how big do they typically get as adults? this one was between 4" - 5".

Tom Nic · Post by **Tom Nic** » Mon Oct 29, 2007 8:47 pm

Doh... ](*,) I did mean a scaleyhead...

Doh... ](*,)

Here's Tom feeling stupid....

nwscubamom · Post by **nwscubamom** » Mon Oct 29, 2007 11:29 pm

Buffalo - yup!

Great - yup!

But hmmm....last one is an Artedius of SOME sort...it's tough to tell just from one pic from that one angle. Believe it or not, I've spent some of my day today pondering these pesky buggers in my own photos....

Remember how I said that the Scalyhead has that white dot at the base of the tail? Well guess what? So does another Artedius - the Smoothhead Sculpin. So the white dot DOES indeed help narrow things down, but it's not the end-all ID feature I'd hoped for. Drats.

There are THREE Artedius genus sculpins that look oh-so-similar. Smoothhead, Scalyhead and Padded.

So....I'm just not sure! But I'm leaning more towards the Smoothhead because the shape of the head just doesn't seem exactly right for the Scalyhead, and there is a definite absence of any cirri on it's head.

What's funny is another guy (Rich Z) sent me a photo today through email of this EXACT fish - same weird band across the head with the little teeny dot too. And I didn't think that one was a Scalyhead either....

Pesky rotten good-for-nothing sculpins....when I get these figured out, I'll be a happy fish-geek!

- Janna

Seth T. · Post by **Seth T.** » Tue Oct 30, 2007 7:47 am

I'm standing by my sixgill identification.

spatman · Post by **spatman** » Tue Oct 30, 2007 8:04 am

nwscubamom wrote:Buffalo - yup!

Great - yup!

But hmmm....last one is an Artedius of SOME sort...it's tough to tell just from one pic from that one angle. Believe it or not, I've spent some of my day today pondering these pesky buggers in my own photos....

Remember how I said that the Scalyhead has that white dot at the base of the tail? Well guess what? So does another Artedius - the Smoothhead Sculpin. So the white dot DOES indeed help narrow things down, but it's not the end-all ID feature I'd hoped for. Drats.

There are THREE Artedius genus sculpins that look oh-so-similar. Smoothhead, Scalyhead and Padded.

So....I'm just not sure! But I'm leaning more towards the Smoothhead because the shape of the head just doesn't seem exactly right for the Scalyhead, and there is a definite absence of any cirri on it's head.

What's funny is another guy (Rich Z) sent me a photo today through email of this EXACT fish - same weird band across the head with the little teeny dot too. And I didn't think that one was a Scalyhead either....

Pesky rotten good-for-nothing sculpins....when I get these figured out, I'll be a happy fish-geek!

- Janna

maybe we've discovered a NEW sculpin! if so, let's name it after you, janna. "sculpinus nicholus" or something...

thanks for checking it out for me. sorry if that last one is a head-scratcher. please keep us updated if you learn anything new.

Seth T. · Post by **Seth T.** » Tue Oct 30, 2007 8:05 am

spatman wrote: sorry if that last one is a head-scratcher.

Don't apologize! That's what makes it fun! :occasion5: