Baikal sculpin

The Baikal sculpins ( Cottocomephoridae ) are a family of small freshwater fish that occur in the Siberian Lake Baikal, its tributaries and some other Siberian rivers ( Angara, Irkut, Selenga ).

Features

Baikal sculpins are 14 to 24 inches long. They are thick, broad head with a large mouth and a tapered back to the tail fin body. The pectoral fins are large, the pelvic fins are far forward below the pectoral fins. The hartstrahlige and the longer, weichstrahlige part of the dorsal fin are clearly separated from each other by an indentation. Baikal sculpins are colored usually camouflaging gray or blackish. When living at greater depths types reddish brown, brownish - yellow to pale yellow tones with bright spots dominate on the body top. The eye size is dependent on the depth of the habitat. Deep-sea species have large eyes and a well-developed lateral line organ. Baikal sculpins feed mainly on amphipods ( Amphipoda ), have demersal ( sinking to the ground eggs) and are themselves an important food for larger fish of Lake Baikal and the Baikal Seal. Some Baikal sculpins live pelagic. Allen Baikal sculpins lack the Postcleithra ( a bone in the shoulder girdle ).

System

Phylogenetically are the Baikal sculpins, as well as the endemic living in deeper layers of Lake Baikal deep-water sculpins ( Abyssocottidae ) and Baikal oil fish ( Comephoridae ) within the genus Cottus from the family of sculpins ( Cottidae ). The American ichthyologist Joseph S. Nelson no longer leads the family in his standard work on fish systematics Fishes of the World, so on and sets genera and species of Baikal sculpins to the bullheads.

Genera and species

There are divided into four genera nine types:

• Genus Batrachocottus Batrachocottus baicalensis ( Dybowski, 1874)
• Batrachocottus multiradiatus Mountain, 1907
• Batrachocottus nikolskii (Berg, 1900)
• Batrachocottus talievi Sideleva, 1999

• Cottocomephorus alexandrae Taliev, 1935
• Cottocomephorus grewingkii ( Dybowski, 1874)
• Cottocomephorus inermis ( Yakovlev, 1890)

• Leocottus kesslerii ( Dybowski, 1874)

• Paracottus knerii ( Dybowski, 1874)