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Leptocottus armatus Girard, 1854

Pacific staghorn sculpin
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Leptocottus armatus   AquaMaps   Data sources: GBIF OBIS
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Image of Leptocottus armatus (Pacific staghorn sculpin)
Leptocottus armatus
Picture by Nichols, J.

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

Teleostei (teleosts) > Perciformes/Cottoidei (Sculpins) > Cottidae (Sculpins)
Etymology: Leptocottus: Greek, leptos = thin + Greek, kottos = a fish (Ref. 45335);  armatus: Leptocottus meaning slender Cottus; armatus armed, referrign to the sharp preopercular spines (Ref. 4930).
More on author: Girard.

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

Marine; brackish; demersal; amphidromous (Ref. 51243); depth range 0 - 156 m. Temperate; 60°N - 33°N

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

Eastern Pacific: Izembek Lagoon, on the southeastern Bering Sea coast of Alaska to Bahia San Quintin, northern Baja California, Mexico.

Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 46.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 2850); common length : 35.5 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 12193); max. reported age: 10 years (Ref. 28936)

Short description Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 6 - 8; Dorsal soft rays (total): 15 - 20; Anal spines: 0; Anal soft rays: 15 - 20; Vertebrae: 37 - 39. Distinguished by the large upper preopercular spine ending in 3 or 4 sharp, upturned, curved spinules and by the large, dark spot on the posterior part of the spiny dorsal fin (Ref. 27547). Gill rakers reduced to flat, bony plates, each bearing a cluster of small teeth; lateral line nearly straight; each pore associated with a small subdermal cartilaginous plate (Ref. 27547). Caudal rounded (Ref. 6885). Grayish olive to rather green, occasionally with some yellow, dorsally; orange-yellow to white or silvery below lateral line; spiny dorsal dusky, with a black spot near tips of last 3 spines, a white band below it; soft dorsal fin dusky, with several oblique white to yellowish bands; pectorals yellow with 5 or 6 dark greenish bars; caudal dusky with one or two pale bands; anal and pelvic fins pale (Ref. 27547).

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Commonly found near shore, especially in bays and estuaries; most frequently on sandy bottom (Ref. 2850). Intertidal individuals breath air when out of water (Ref. 31184). Can leave tide pools if aquatic conditions become inhospitable (Ref. 31184). Although some individuals may spend their entire life in highly saline waters (Ref. 28693), some newly metamorphosed young move from the estuarine spawning sites to completely fresh water and may remain there for up to 6 weeks (Ref. 27547). Adults apparently tend to remain in the shallow lower estuary, or farther offshore (Ref. 27547). Feeds mostly on crabs, shrimps and amphipods, but also takes larval, juvenile and adult fishes, as well as polychaete worms, mollusks and other invertebrates (Ref. 4930). Expands its gill covers and produces a low-pitched humming sound when stressed (Ref. 6885). Considered a nuisance by anglers (Ref. 27547).

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

Oviparous (Ref. 101741).

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator | Collaborators

Eschmeyer, W.N., E.S. Herald and H. Hammann, 1983. A field guide to Pacific coast fishes of North America. Boston (MA, USA): Houghton Mifflin Company. xii+336 p. (Ref. 2850)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435)

  Least Concern (LC) ; Date assessed: 01 March 2012

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Harmless





Human uses

Fisheries: commercial; aquarium: public aquariums
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
Distribution
Countries
FAO areas
Ecosystems
Occurrences
Introductions
BRUVS - Videos
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
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References
References

Tools

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Internet sources

AFORO (otoliths) | 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 | OceanAdapt | Otolith Atlas of Taiwan Fishes | Public aquariums | PubMed | Reef Life Survey | Socotra Atlas | Tree of Life | Wikipedia: Go, Search | World Records Freshwater Fishing | Zoobank | Zoological Record

Estimates based on models

Preferred temperature (Ref. 123201): 4.5 - 14.1, mean 8.7 °C (based on 352 cells).
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804):  PD50 = 1.0000   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.01023 (0.00518 - 0.02023), b=3.19 (3.01 - 3.37), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this species & (Sub)family-body (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level (Ref. 69278):  3.7   ±0.64 se; based on food items.
Resilience (Ref. 120179):  Medium, minimum population doubling time 1.4 - 4.4 years (tm=1; tmax=10).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  Moderate vulnerability (36 of 100).
Price category (Ref. 80766):   Low.
Nutrients (Ref. 124155):  Calcium = 66.7 [29.5, 146.1] mg/100g; Iron = 0.418 [0.197, 0.881] mg/100g; Protein = 18.1 [16.0, 20.3] %; Omega3 = 0.668 [0.293, 1.935] g/100g; Selenium = 18.9 [8.9, 45.8] μg/100g; VitaminA = 8.11 [2.78, 24.42] μg/100g; Zinc = 0.618 [0.413, 1.057] mg/100g (wet weight);