fourhorn sculpin
{{Short description|Species of fish}}
{{Speciesbox
| image = Triglopsis quadricornis (Pieni).jpg
| image_caption =
| status = LC
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| taxon = Myoxocephalus quadricornis
| authority = (Linnaeus, 1758)
| synonyms ={{Specieslist
| Cottus quadricornis | Linnaeus, 1758
|Myoxocephalus quadricornis quadricornis | (Linnaeus, 1758)
| Oncocottus quadricornis | (Linnaeus, 1758)
| Triglops quadricornis | (Linnaeus, 1758)
| Triglopsis quadricornis | (Linnaeus, 1758)
| Triglopsis quadricornis quadricorniis | (Linnaeus, 1758)
| Cottus hexacornis |Richardson, 1823
| Myoxocephalus quadricornis hexacornis | (Richardson, 1823)
| Oncocottus hexacornis | (Richardson, 1823)
| Cottus quadricornis relicta | Lilljeborg, 1891
| Myoxocephalus quadricornis relicta | (Lilljeborg, 1891)
| Cottus latifrons | Gratzianov, 1904
| Myoxocephalus quadricornis lonnbergi | Berg, 1916
| Cottus quadricornis lonnbergi | Lönnberg, 1919
| Myoxocephalus quadricornis onegensis | Berg & Popov, 1932
| Cottus quadricornis vaenernensis | Lönnberg, 1932
| Cottus quadricornis frykenensis | Lönnberg, 1932
| Cottus quadricornis oernensis | Lönnberg, 1932
| Cottus quadricornis asundensis | Lönnberg, 1932
| Cottus quadricornis kallavesensis | Lönnberg, 1933
| Cottus quadricornis pygmaeus | Lönnberg, 1933
| Cottus quadricornis borkensis | Lönnberg, 1939
| Cottus quadricornis vermelnensis | {{ill|Orvar Nybelin|sv|lt=Nybelin}}
}}
| synonyms_ref = {{FishBase|Myoxocephalus|quadricornis|month=August|year=2022}}
}}
The fourhorn sculpin (Myoxocephalus quadricornis) is a species of ray-finned fish belonging to the family Cottidae, the typical sculpins. This species has a Holarctic distribution and can be found in marine, brackish and fresh waters.
Taxonomy
The fourhorn sculpin was first formally described as Cottus quadricornus in the 10th edition of Linnaeus's Systema Naturae with its type locality given as the Baltic Sea.{{Cof genus|genus=Myoxocephalus|access-date = 10 February 2023}} In 2020 workers undertook a comparison of the Mitochondrial DNA of the fourhorn sculpin and the belligerent sculpin (Megalcottus platycephalus) and found that the fourhorn sculpin was more closely related to the belligerent sculpin than it was to the other species in the genus Myoxocephalus, they proposed that the fourhorn sculpin be reclassified as a member of the genus Megalocottus.{{cite journal | last1 = Balakirev | first1 = Evgeniy | last2 = Kravchenko | first2 = Alexandra | last3 = Semenchenko | first3 = Alexander | name-list-style = and | year = 2020 | title = Genetic Evidence for a Mixed Composition of the Genus Myoxocephalus (Cottoidei: Cottidae) Necessitates Generic Realignment | journal = Genes | volume = 11 | issue = 9 | page = 1071 | doi = 10.3390/genes11091071| pmid = 32933022 | pmc = 7564937 | doi-access = free }}
The deepwater sculpin Myoxocephalus thompsonii of continental North American freshwater lakes (e.g., the Great Lakes) is closely related to the fourhorn sculpin and alternatively considered as a subspecies of the latter, Myoxocephalus quadricornis thompsonii.
Description
The fourhorn sculpin has a large knobbly head with protruding lips and four bony protuberances, though the latter are not present in freshwater, lake forms of this fish. The pectoral fins are large and rounded. Freshwater forms resemble the Alpine bullhead and European bullhead but can be distinguished from them by the fact that the dorsal and anal fins terminate further forward giving a greater length to the caudal peduncle. The head, body and fins are brownish, mottled and barred with darker colour. The belly of the male is yellowish-brown while that of the female is whitish. In the sea this fish reaches {{convert|20|to|30|cm|0|abbr=on}} but in lakes it seldom exceeds {{convert|15|cm|0|abbr=on}}.{{cite web |url=http://www.luontoportti.com/suomi/en/kalat/fourhorn-sculpin |title=Fourhorn sculpin: Triglopsis quadricornis |publisher=NatureGate |accessdate=2013-12-17}}
Distribution and habitat
The fourhorn sculpin is a demersal fish distributed mainly in brackish arctic coastal waters in Canada, Greenland, Russia, and Alaska, and also as a relict in the boreal Baltic Sea. There are also freshwater populations in the lakes of Norway, Sweden, Finland and Karelia and in Arctic Canada (Nunavut and Northwest Territories).
Biology
The fourhorn sculpin feeds on bottom-dwelling invertebrates and fish eggs. It breeds in winter between November and March and the male tends the eggs. He digs a hollow in the substrate into which the female lays a batch of eggs. He then remains on guard, fanning the eggs with his fins throughout the hundred-day incubation period.
References
{{Reflist}}
=Bibliography=
- [http://dsp-psd.pwgsc.gc.ca/Collection/CW69-14-366-2004E.pdf COSEWIC Assessment and Update Status Report on the Fourhorn Sculpin Myoxocephalus quadricornis Freshwater form in Canada]. Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada. 2003.
- {{cite iucn |author=NatureServe |date=2018 |title=Myoxocephalus quadricornis |volume=2018 |page=e.T14214A134235538 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-2.RLTS.T14214A134235538.en |access-date=15 November 2021}}
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20150412015110/http://www.rktl.fi/english/fish/fish_atlas/fourhorn_sculpin/ Fourhorn sculpin] Game and Fisheries Research.
External links
- {{Commons category-inline|Myoxocephalus quadricornis}}
- {{Wikispecies-inline|Myoxocephalus quadricornis}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q402751}}
Category:Fish described in 1758