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Chitonotus pugetensis

Roughback Sculpin
NS GNR
Collection Details

Specimens

Photos

There are no photos available for this taxon yet.

Records

Taxonomic Hierarchy

Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes) Scorpaeniformes (Lionfish, Stonefish and others) Cottidae (Sculpins) Chitonotus Chitonotus pugetensis (Roughback Sculpin)

Description

This species account was compiled from FishBase (Froese, R. and D. Pauly. Editors. 2025. FishBase. World Wide Web electronic publication. www.fishbase.org, version 04/2025.) and processed using AI-assisted text extraction. It may contain errors in spelling, punctuation, or formatting. When citing, please reference the original source rather than this page. Learn more about our species accounts.

Characters

Body shape: elongated. Caudal fin large, barely rounded. Pelvic fins small.

Distribution

Eastern Pacific: Trail Island, Wark Channel, northern British Columbia to Bahia Santa Maria, southern Baja California, Mexico. Probably occurring in southeastern Alaska (Ref. 2850).

Habitat Associations

Marine. demersal. depth range 0-142 m.

Biology

Commonly found on sand bottom, also on mud bottom. Occurs in intertidal areas and up to 142 m depth (Ref. 2850). Feeds on shrimps and other crustaceans (Ref. 4925). Aquarium observations indicate that this is nocturnal (Ref. 2850).
Max length: 23.0 cm TL.
Reproductive mode: dioecism; fertilization: internal (oviduct).
IUCN Red List Status: N.E. (N.E.). Resilience: Medium (Fec=5,700).

Commercial or Environmental Importance

Fisheries: commercial; aquarium: public aquariums.

References

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.
Hart, J.L. (1973) Pacific fishes of Canada. Bull. Fish. Res. Board Can. 180:740 p.
Lamb, A. and P. Edgell (1986) Coastal fishes of the Pacific northwest. Madeira Park, (BC, Canada): Harbour Publishing Co. Ltd., 224 p.
Misitano, D.A. (1980) A record of internal fertilization in the roughback sculpin Chitinotus pugetensis with descriptive notes of their early larvae. Copeia 1980(1):162.

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