Fourspine sculpin explained

The fourspine sculpin (Cottus kazika) is a species of freshwater ray-finned fish belonging to the family Cottidae, the typical sculpins. It is endemic to Japan. It reaches a maximum length of 30.0 cm (11.8 in).

Taxonomy

The fourspine sculpin was first formally described in 1904 by the American ichthyologists David Starr Jordan and Edwin Chapin Starks with its type locality given as Niigata in Japan. This species is placed in the monospecific genus Rheopresbe by some authorities, as molecular analyses indicated that this species was a sister taxon to Trachidermus fasciatus, another catadromous Japanese sculpin.[1] The specific name kazika is a Japanese word for river sculpins.[2]

Notes and References

  1. Akira Goto . Ryota Yokoyama . Izumi Kinoshita . Harumi Sakai . and . 2020 . Japanese catadromous fourspine sculpin, Rheopresbe kazika (Jordan & Starks) (Pisces: Cottidae), transferred from the genus Cottus . Environmental Biology of Fishes . 103 . 3 . 213–220 . 10.1007/s10641-019-00921-3. 2020EnvBF.103..213G . 207989663 .
  2. Web site: Order Perciformes: Suborder Cottoidea: Infraorder Cottales: Family Cottidae (Sculpins) . The ETYFish Project Fish Name Etymology Database . Christopher Scharpf . Kenneth J. Lazara . amp . 22 October 2022 . 19 January 2023 . Christopher Scharpf and Kenneth J. Lazara.