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Alpinocottus poecilopus (Heckel, 1837)

Alpine bullhead
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Alpinocottus poecilopus
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Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Teleostei (teleosts) > Perciformes/Cottoidei (Sculpins) > Cottidae (Sculpins)
Etymology: Alpinocottus: Name from Latin words 'alpinus' for alpine or mountain and 'cottus' meaning sculpin; translation for 'Alpine sculpin', the common name of type species of this genus..
More on author: Heckel.

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Freshwater; brackish; demersal; depth range 0 - 15 m (Ref. 58496). Temperate; 72°N - 36°N, 10°E - 171°E

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Point map | Introductions | Faunafri

Europe and Asia: Streams in Carpathians draining to Danube, Dniestr, Vistula and Odra. Baltic Sea basin, especially in northern Sweden and Finland between 64 and 68°N, central Finnish lakes area, a few streams in southern Finland and northern Poland, Lake Ladoga and southern Lake Onega basins, a few lakes in northern Germany (extirpated), Lake Hañcza in Poland and Skjernaa drainage in Denmark. In Siberia from River Ob eastward to River Lena. Absent in rivers draining to Baltic Sea south of Iijöki drainage in central Finland and in rivers draining to the White and Barents Seas. Cottus populations from the Kolyma, Amur and Korean drainages usually identified as Cottus poecilopus belong to a different species.

Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm 9.0, range 4 - 10 cm
Max length : 15.0 cm SL male/unsexed; (Ref. 4698); common length : 11.8 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 35840); max. reported age: 8 years (Ref. 4698)

Short description Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics

Anal soft rays: 13 - 15. Differs from all other species of Cottus in Europe by possessing spatulate prickles; pelvic-fin rays tessellated, with 5-15 distinct rows of spot, appearing as transverse bands; and 2 chin pores. Additional characters useful in the identification of this species include: lateral line clearly above midline of body (shared only with C. koshewnikowi); lateral line clearly above midline of body; lateral line incomplete, usually reaching to anal-fin base; and prickling restricted to body under pectoral fin (Ref. 55856).

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Inhabits northern, and mountain and foothill streams, and oligotrophic lakes. Found in fast-flowing waters of coastal streams, rivers, inland lakes, usually on stony bottoms (Ref. 4698). Moves downstream to estuaries and tolerates brackish waters (Ref. 4698). Feeds on algae (diatoms, desmids, blue-green algae), polychaetes, crustaceans, aquatic insect larvae and nymphs (Ephemeroptera, Trichoptera, Plecoptera, Chironomidae), fish eggs and larvae.

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturities | Reproduction | Spawnings | Egg(s) | Fecundities | Larvae

Females spawn onces a season. Most individuals spawn 2-3 seasons. They lay adhesive eggs in a compact clutch on ceiling of small cavities in gravel or rock bottom. Males guard eggs until hatching. males may guard egg clutches of several females. (Ref.59043).

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator | Collaborators

Freyhof, J., M. Kottelat and A. Nolte, 2005. Taxonomic diversity of European Cottus with description of eight new species (Teleostei: Cottidae). Ichthyol. Explor. Freshwat. 16(2):107-172. (Ref. 55856)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435)

  Least Concern (LC) ; Date assessed: 01 January 2008

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Harmless





Human uses

Bait: usually
FAO - Publication: search | FishSource |

More information

Trophic ecology
Food items
Diet compositions
Food consumptions
Food rations
Predators
Ecology
Ecology
Population dynamics
Growths
Max. ages / sizes
Length-weight rel.
Length-length rel.
Length-frequencies
Mass conversions
Recruitments
Abundances
Life cycle
Reproduction
Maturities
Fecundities
Spawnings
Spawning aggregations
Egg(s)
Egg developments
Larvae
Larval dynamics
Anatomy
Gill areas
Brains
Otoliths
Physiology
Body compositions
Nutrients
Oxygen consumptions
Swimming type
Swimming speeds
Visual pigment(s)
Fish sounds
Diseases / Parasites
Toxicities (LC50s)
Genetics
Genetics
Electrophoreses
Heritabilities
Human related
Aquaculture systems
Aquaculture profiles
Strains
Ciguatera cases
Stamps, coins, misc.
Outreach
Collaborators
References
References

Tools

Special reports

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Internet sources

AFORO (otoliths) | Alien/Invasive Species database | Aquatic Commons | BHL | Cloffa | BOLDSystems | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes: genus, species | DiscoverLife | ECOTOX | FAO - Publication: search | Faunafri | Fishipedia | Fishtrace | GenBank: genome, nucleotide | GloBI | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | MitoFish | National databases | Otolith Atlas of Taiwan Fishes | PubMed | Reef Life Survey | Socotra Atlas | Tree of Life | Wikipedia: Go, Search | World Records Freshwater Fishing | Zoological Record

Estimates based on models

Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804):  PD50 = 0.5000   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00676 (0.00300 - 0.01523), b=3.17 (2.98 - 3.36), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this (Sub)family-body shape (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level (Ref. 69278):  3.0   ±0.34 se; based on food items.
Generation time: 4.7 ( na - na) years. Estimated as median ln(3)/K based on 2 growth studies.
Resilience (Ref. 120179):  Medium, minimum population doubling time 1.4 - 4.4 years (tmax=8).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  Low to moderate vulnerability (33 of 100).