Species: Smoothhead Sculpin (Artedius lateralis)
Location: Oregon Coast
Date: June 20, 2018
Freshwater sculpins, especially the Cottus species, are among the most difficult-to-identify fish around.
Marine sculpins aren’t quite as tough, especially with the odd Rosylip Sculpin or Buffalo Sculpin kicking around, but there are a lot of them with blurred edges. One such fish is the Smoothead Sculpin. There are three fish in this genus (Padded, Smoothhead, and Scalyhead), and they’re insanely difficult to tell apart. Strangely, the Scalyhead Sculpin is supposed to be the most common but is the only one I’ve never caught.
Honestly, I don’t even really remember how he distinguished the two, but since I’ve only caught one more in that genus (another Smoothhead) since, it hasn’t been an issue.
Lazy? Sure.
But at least I know my flaws and don’t try to *smooth* over them.
In all seriousness, I used Coastal Fish Identification: California to Alaska and the Mola Marine PNW Sculpins 3.0 supplement to help me identify them. It turns out 9-out-of-10 dentists recommend cutting your teeth on both if you’re a Lifelister in the PNW.
***
One thing that is noticeable about these particular sculpins is their massive heads, especially compared to their tidepool peers.
The latest Smoothhead had me thinking it was a different, and it was. Because it was another Padded Sculpin.
I’ll get my Scalyhead eventually, though, so I’m not worried.
#SpeciesQuest // #CaughtOvgard
Read the next entry in #SpeciesQuest here: Species #130 — Mountain Whitefish.
Hmm is anyone else encountering problems with the pictures on this blog loading? I’m trying to determine if its a problem on my end or if it’s the blog. Any feed-back would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you for your sharing. I am worried that I lack creative ideas. It is your article that makes me full of hope. Thank you. But, I have a question, can you help me?
66duu4
Hello this is kinda of off topic but I was wanting
to know if blogs use WYSIWYG editors or if you have to manually code with HTML.
I’m starting a blog soon but have no coding expertise so I wanted to get advice from someone with experience.
Any help would be greatly appreciated!
1fqn2i
My brother suggested I might like this blog. He was entirely right. This post actually made my day. You cann’t imagine just how much time I had spent for this info! Thanks!
txi09e
Can you be more specific about the content of your article? After reading it, I still have some doubts. Hope you can help me.
fascinate este conteúdo. Gostei bastante. Aproveitem e vejam este site. informações, novidades e muito mais. Não deixem de acessar para saber mais. Obrigado a todos e até a próxima. 🙂