Cottidae
| Cottidae Temporal range:
| |
|---|---|
| |
| Cottus cognatus | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Perciformes |
| Suborder: | Cottoidei |
| Superfamily: | Cottoidea |
| Family: | Cottidae Bonaparte, 1831[1] |
| Subfamilies and genera | |
|
see text | |
| Synonyms | |
| |
The Cottidae are a family of fish in the superfamily Cottoidea, the sculpins. Following major taxonomic revisions, it contains about 118 species in 18 genera, the vast majority of which inhabit freshwater habitats.[2] They are referred to simply as cottids to avoid confusion with sculpins of other families.[3]
Cottids are distributed throughout the Northern Hemisphere, especially in boreal and colder temperate climates.[3] They are especially diverse in Lake Baikal and surrounding river basins. Only a few cottids inhabit marine habitats. Other sculpins restricted to marine habitats are now placed in the family Psychrolutidae.[4]
Most cottids are small fish, under 10 cm (3.9 in) in length.[5]
The earliest known skeletal remains of cottids are of Cottus cervicornis (taxonomy uncertain) from the Early Oligocene of Belgium. Cottids become more common in the fossil record from the Miocene onwards.[6]
Taxonomy
[edit]The Cottidae was first recognised as a taxonomic grouping by the French zoologist Charles Lucien Bonaparte in 1831.[1] The composition of the family and its taxonomic relationships have been the subject of some debate among taxonomists. The 5th edition of Fishes of the World retains a rather conservative classification, although it includes the families Comephoridae and Abbyssocottidae as subfamilies of the Cottidae recognising that these taxa are very closely related to some of the freshwater sculpins in the genus Cottus.[7] More recently, phylogenetic studies have redefined Cottidae to be largely restricted to the freshwater sculpins, i.e. Cottus, Leptocottus, Mesocottus, Trachidermus, and the species flock in and around Lake Baikal, and the marine genera are placed in the Psychrolutidae.[4] Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes follows this classification.[8]
Genera
[edit]
Based on Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes (2025):[8]
- Family Cottidae Bonaparte, 1831
- Genus Abyssocottus Berg, 1906
- Genus Alpinocottus Bogdanov, 2023
- Genus Asprocottus Berg, 1906
- Genus Batrachocottus Berg, 1903
- Genus Comephorus Lacépède, 1800
- Genus Cottinella Berg, 1907
- Genus Cottocomephorus Pellegrin, 1900
- Genus Cottus Linnaeus, 1758
- Genus Cyphocottus Sideleva, 2003
- Genus †Kerocottus Kimmel, 1975 (fossil; late Neogene of Oregon, USA)[9]
- Genus Leocottus Palmer, 1961
- Genus Leptocottus Girard, 1854
- Genus Limnocottus Berg, 1906
- Genus Neocottus Sideleva, 1982
- Genus Procottus Gratzianov, 1902
- Genus Rheopresbe Jordan & Starks, 1904
- Genus Trachidermis Heckel, 1837
See also
[edit]References
[edit]
- ^ a b Richard van der Laan; William N. Eschmeyer & Ronald Fricke (2014). "Family-group names of Recent fishes". Zootaxa. 3882 (2): 001–230. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.3882.1.1. PMID 25543675.
- ^ "CAS - Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes - Genera/Species by Family/Subfamily". researcharchive.calacademy.org. Retrieved 2025-08-09.
- ^ a b Kane, E. A. and T. E. Higham. (2012). Life in the flow lane: differences in pectoral fin morphology suggest transitions in station-holding demand across species of marine sculpin. Archived 2020-10-22 at the Wayback Machine Zoology (Jena) 115(4), 223–32.
- ^ a b W. Leo Smith & Morgan S. Busby (2014). "Phylogeny and taxonomy of sculpins, sandfishes, and snailfishes (Perciformes: Cottoidei) with comments on the phylogenetic significance of their early-life-history specializations". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 79: 332–352. Bibcode:2014MolPE..79..332S. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2014.06.028. PMID 25014569.
- ^ Eschmeyer, W. N. (1998). Paxton, J. R. and W. N. Eschmeyer. (ed.). Encyclopedia of Fishes. San Diego: Academic Press. pp. 178–79. ISBN 0-12-547665-5.
- ^ Nazarkin, M. V. (2017-01-01). "A new horned sculpin (Pisces: Cottidae) from the Miocene of Sakhalin Island, Russia". Paleontological Journal. 51 (1): 77–86. doi:10.1134/S0031030117010099. ISSN 1555-6174.
- ^ J. S. Nelson; T. C. Grande; M. V. H. Wilson (2016). Fishes of the World (5th ed.). Wiley. pp. 467–495. ISBN 978-1-118-34233-6. Archived from the original on 2019-04-08. Retrieved 2023-01-04.
- ^ a b Eschmeyer, William N.; Fricke, Ron & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Genera in the family Cottidae". Catalog of Fishes. California Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 9 August 2025.
- ^ Smith, Gerald R.; Kimmel, P. G. (1975). "Fishes of the Pliocene Glenns Ferry Formation, Southwest Idaho; Fishes of the Miocene - Pliocene Deer Butte Formation, Southeast Oregon Claude W. Hibbard Memorial Volume V". Papers on Paleontology (14): 1–87.
