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A Virtual Museum on the State's Fish Biodiversity

Enophrys bison

Buffalo Sculpin
NS GNR
Collection Details

Specimens

Photos

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Records

Taxonomic Hierarchy

Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes) Scorpaeniformes (Lionfish, Stonefish and others) Cottidae (Sculpins) Enophrys Enophrys bison (Buffalo 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: fusiform / normal. Caudal broadly rounded. Pelvic fins small.

Distribution

Eastern Pacific: Kodiak Island, Alaska to Monterey Bay, California, USA.

Habitat Associations

Marine. demersal.

Biology

Commonly found in inshore rocky and sandy areas (Ref. 2850). Feeds mainly on algae (Ref. 2850) but also shrimps, crabs, amphipods, mussels, and small fishes (Ref. 4925).
Max length: 37.0 cm TL.
Reproductive mode: dioecism; guarders (nesters); parental care: paternal. Oviparous (Ref. 101741). Male guards egg cluster and fans eggs with his pectoral fins (Ref. 2850).
IUCN Red List Status: N.E. (N.E.). Resilience: Very low (Preliminary K or Fecundity.).

Commercial or Environmental Importance

Fisheries: commercial; gamefish; 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.
Clemens, W.A. and G.V. Wilby (1961) Fishes of the Pacific coast of Canada. 2nd ed. Fish. Res. Bd. Canada Bull. (68):443 p.
Hart, J.L. (1973) Pacific fishes of Canada. Bull. Fish. Res. Board Can. 180:740 p.

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