Arctic Staghorn Sculpin: Gymnocanthus tricuspis (Reinhardt, 1830)
One of the most abundant and widespread arctic sculpins
Size
- < 20 cm except around Greenland and in Hudson Bay
- 30 cm maximum
Color & Characteristics
- Flat, bony plates on nape and top of head
- Lateral line scales in the form of embedded tubules
- Few or no cirri on the head and body
- A long uppermost preopercular spine with 1 or more recurved spinules on the upper surface
- Distinguished from other Gymnocanthus by absence of postocular and occipital tubercles; a narrower interorbital space (less than 10% HL); and presence of numerous small interorbital plates
Habitat
- Arctic, circumpolar
- Benthic, in shallow water close to shore (caught in beach seines) to about 450 m (1,480 ft) depth off shore
- Typically < 200 m, on various substrates from mud to gravel and rock
- Burrow in sand and muddy-sand substrates.
Feeding
- Primarily eat polychaetes, gastropods, euphausiids, benthic amphipods, and Echiurus
- Eaten by other fishes, including Arctic cod, Atlantic cod, Bering flounder, and polar eelpout
Life cycle
- Spawn in late autumn to winter
- Number of eggs about 2,000-5,500
- Eggs demersal, larvae and young juveniles pelagic
- Young fish descend to sea floor at 20–30 mm in length
- Mature by 5–6 years of age or 220–260 mm
Page Author: CW Mecklenburg & TA Mecklenburg
Updated: March 5, 2011
