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Home/Species/ Pacific Staghorn Sculpin

Leptocottus armatus

Girard, 1854

Pacific Staghorn Sculpin

G5Secure Found in 27 roadless areas NatureServe Explorer →
G5SecureGlobal Rank
Least concernIUCN
Identity
Unique IDELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.104345
Element CodeAFC4E03010
Record TypeSPECIES
ClassificationSpecies
Classification StatusStandard
Name CategoryVertebrate Animal
IUCNLeast concern
Endemicoccurs (regularly, as a native taxon) in multiple nations
KingdomAnimalia
PhylumCraniata
ClassActinopterygii
OrderPerciformes
FamilyCottidae
GenusLeptocottus
Concept Reference
Robins, C.R., R.M. Bailey, C.E. Bond, J.R. Brooker, E.A. Lachner, R.N. Lea, and W.B. Scott. 1991. Common and scientific names of fishes from the United States and Canada. American Fisheries Society, Special Publication 20. 183 pp.
Taxonomic Comments
Formerly included in the order Perciformes; the 1991 AFS checklist (Robins et al. 1991) followed Nelson (1984) in recognizing the order Scorpaeniformes as distinct from the Perciformes.
Conservation Status
Rank MethodExpertise without calculation
Review Date2016-02-09
Change Date1996-09-06
Range Extent Comments
San Quintin Bay, Baja California, north to Kodiak Island and west to Unga Island, Aleutians, Alaska (Lee et al. 1980).
Occurrences Comments
This species is represented by a large number of subpopulations and locations.
Threat Impact Comments
Localized threats may exist, but on a range-wide scale no major threats are known.
Ecology & Habitat

Habitat

Shallow coastal waters, bays, estuaries, or lower reaches of rivers in salinities of 0-34 ppt; most commonly on sand bottom; ranges to depths of about 90 m. Adults usually inhabit lower estuaries; young found in fresh water in rivers and smaller streams, and in upper and lower estuaries. Most spawning probably occurs in bays and estuaries with relatively stable salinities (Morrow 1980). Hatchlings move into fresh water in spring, move down into estuaries in summer.

Ecology

Life span seldom more than 3 years. Mostly a sedentary fish, but may move rapidly on occasion. Eaten by cormorants, sea lions, etc.

Reproduction

Mature when one year old. Spawns October-March, usually January-February. Females lay between 2,000 to 11,000 eggs, depending on their size (Moyle 1976).
Other Nations (2)
CanadaN5B,NNRN,NNRM
ProvinceRankNative
British ColumbiaSNRYes
United StatesN5
ProvinceRankNative
AlaskaS5Yes
WashingtonS4Yes
CaliforniaSNRYes
OregonS4Yes
Roadless Areas (27)
Alaska (24)
AreaForestAcres
ChichagofTongass National Forest555,858
Chilkat-West Lynn CanalTongass National Forest199,772
Chugach-12Chugach National Forest8,116
College FiordChugach National Forest1,130,818
Copper River WetlandsChugach National Forest85,972
Douglas IslandTongass National Forest28,065
Fidalgo-GravinaChugach National Forest257,968
Game CreekTongass National Forest54,469
Juneau UrbanTongass National Forest101,581
Juneau-Skagway IcefieldTongass National Forest1,187,268
KartaTongass National Forest52,117
Kenai MountainsChugach National Forest306,600
LindenbergTongass National Forest25,855
MadanTongass National Forest68,553
Mansfield PeninsulaTongass National Forest54,991
Middle KruzofTongass National Forest14,724
Nellie JuanChugach National Forest713,697
North WrangellTongass National Forest8,091
RhineTongass National Forest23,010
SarkarTongass National Forest51,908
Soda BayTongass National Forest78,091
South KruzofTongass National Forest55,193
Taku-SnettishamTongass National Forest664,928
TwelvemileTongass National Forest37,940
Oregon (2)
AreaForestAcres
Umpqua SpitSiuslaw National Forest2,090
WoahinkSiuslaw National Forest5,309
Washington (1)
AreaForestAcres
Devils GulchWenatchee National Forest24,419
References (13)
  1. Eschmeyer, W. N., and E. S. Herald. 1983. A Field Guide to Pacific Coast Fishes of North America from the Gulf of Alaska to Baja California. Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston, Massachusetts. 336 pp.
  2. Lee, D. S., C. R. Gilbert, C. H. Hocutt, R. E. Jenkins, D. E. McAllister, and J. R. Stauffer, Jr. 1980. Atlas of North American freshwater fishes. North Carolina State Museum of Natural History, Raleigh, North Carolina. i-x + 854 pp.
  3. Master, L. L. 1996. Synoptic national assessment of comparative risks to biological diversity and landscape types: species distributions. Summary Progress Report submitted to Environmental Protection Agency. The Nature Conservancy, Arlington, Virginia. 60 pp.
  4. Master, L. L. and A. L. Stock. 1998. Synoptic national assessment of comparative risks to biological diversity and landscape types: species distributions. Summary Report submitted to Environmental Protection Agency. The Nature Conservancy, Arlington, VA. 36 pp.
  5. Morrow, J.E. 1980. The freshwater fishes of Alaska. Alaska Northwest Publishing Company, Anchorage, AK. 248 pp.
  6. Moyle, P. B. 1976a. Inland fishes of California. University of California Press, Berkeley, California. 405 pp.
  7. Moyle, P. B. 2002. Inland fishes of California. Revised and expanded. University of California Press, Berkeley. xv + 502 pp.
  8. Nelson, J. S. 1984. Fishes of the world. Second edition. John Wiley & Sons, New York. xv + 523 pp.
  9. Nelson, J. S., E. J. Crossman, H. Espinosa-Perez, L. T. Findley, C. R. Gilbert, R. N. Lea, and J. D. Williams. 2004. Common and scientific names of fishes from the United States, Canada, and Mexico. American Fisheries Society, Special Publication 29, Bethesda, Maryland. 386 pp.
  10. Page, L. M., H. Espinosa-Pérez, L. T. Findley, C. R. Gilbert, R. N. Lea, N. E. Mandrak, R. L. Mayden, and J. S. Nelson. 2013. Common and scientific names of fishes from the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Seventh edition. American Fisheries Society, Special Publication 34, Bethesda, Maryland.
  11. Page, L. M., K. E. Bemis, T. E. Dowling, H.S. Espinosa-Pérez, L.T. Findley, C. R. Gilbert, K. E. Hartel, R. N. Lea, N. E. Mandrak, M. A. Neigbors, J. J. Schmitter-Soto, and H. J. Walker, Jr. 2023. Common and scientific names of fishes from the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Eighth edition. American Fisheries Society (AFS), Special Publication 37, Bethesda, Maryland, 439 pp.
  12. Robins, C.R., R.M. Bailey, C.E. Bond, J.R. Brooker, E.A. Lachner, R.N. Lea, and W.B. Scott. 1991. Common and scientific names of fishes from the United States and Canada. American Fisheries Society, Special Publication 20. 183 pp.
  13. Wydoski, R. S., and R. R. Whitney. 1979. Inland fishes of Washington. The University of Washington Press, Seattle. 220 pp.