<< well what do they look like
>>
There are photos of 5 different species of sculpins on the NFC website-
address:http://nativefish.org/cgi-bin/cgiwrap/nativefish/gallery.pl#COTTIDAE.
Of course, photos only give you only so much of an idea of what they look
like, since they only generally show fish from a side view. There is a front
view and close-up headshot of a mottled sculpin on this site.Some additional
info I can give you is that according to the Audubon field guide to North
American fishes, "Most members of this family have a large head and an
elongate, tapering body, partly covered with scales or prickles, but a few
are scaleless. The eyes are placed high on the head. The pelvic fins have a
single spine and 2 to 5 soft rays. Most species have separate spiny and
soft-rayed dorsal fins. The anal fin is usually about as long as the soft
dorsal fin and has no spines. A lateral line is present." You can also get
info from articles on the NANFA and NFC websites which will help give you a
better idea of their body dimensions and overall general appearance. An
interesting characteristic of sculpins is that most if not all species hop
around on the bottom of the streams where they live instead of swimming
around near the top or middle water levels. That is because they are adapted
for a bottom-feeding existence so while they can swim with some difficulty in
the midwater levels, they sink to the bottom.It makes it easier to eat food
from the bottom, more so than other fishes which generally have to angle
their whole bodies downward to eat off of the bottom.
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