Cottus rhotheus
Torrent Sculpin
Taxonomic Hierarchy
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes)
Scorpaeniformes (Lionfish, Stonefish and others)
Cottidae (Sculpins)
Cottus
Cottus rhotheus (Torrent 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.)
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Characters
Body shape: Elongated.
Distribution
North America: upper Fraser River drainage in British Columbia in Canada to Nehalem River in Oregon, USA (including Columbia River drainage of British Columbia in Canada, and Washington, Idaho, Montana and Oregon in the USA).
Habitat Associations
Freshwater. demersal. Found in: streams, lakes.
Biology
Inhabits rubble and gravel riffles of rivers and rocky lake shores. Individuals up to 5 cm feed on planktonic crustaceans and aquatic insect larvae especially that of midges and mayflies (Ref. 1998). Larger sculpins feed on minnows and other fishes (Ref. 1998). Possibly spawns in June (Ref. 1998).
Max length: 15.5 cm TL; common length: 6.8 cm TL.
IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern (LC), assessed 2011-11-11. Resilience: Medium (Fec=448).
Commercial or Environmental Importance
Fisheries: of no interest.
References
Scott, W.B. and E.J. Crossman (1973) Freshwater fishes of Canada. Bull. Fish. Res. Board Can. 184: xi+1-966.
Page, L.M. and B.M. Burr (1991) A field guide to freshwater fishes of North America north of Mexico. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston. 432 p.
Coker, G.A., C.B. Portt and C.K. Minns (2001) Morphological and ecological characteristics of Canadian freshwater fishes. Can. MS Rpt. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 2554:iv+89p.
Lemoine, M., M.K. Young, K.S. Mckelvey, L. Eby, K.L. Pilgrim and M.K. Schwartz (2014) Cottus schitsuumsh, a new species of sculpin (Scorpaeniformes: Cottidae) in the Columbia River basin, Idaho-Montana, USA. Zootaxa 3755(3):241-258.
Comments On Cottus rhotheus