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Icelus spatula

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Icelus spatula
Icelus spatula
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Scorpaeniformes
Family: Cottidae
Genus: Icelus
Species:
I. spatula
Binomial name
Icelus spatula
Synonyms[1]
  • Icelus spatula spatula Gilbert & Burke, 1912

Icelus spatula, or the spatulate sculpin, is a marine fish in the family Cottidae. It can be found throughout the Arctic and the Northwestern Atlantic.[2][3]

Description

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Juveniles of the species have two dark colored patches on their body. As they age, these patches break up to form intermittent brown spots. The tail fin is also speckled, while the anal and pelvic fins are uncolored.[2] The average length is 12.9 cm, with a maximum reported age of seven years.[4]

Size

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This species reaches a length of 21.0 cm (8.3 in).[5]

Etymology

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The fish is named after a paddle, a spoon or a broad blade used for stirring, referring to “distinctly spatular” shape of the anal papilla of the male.[6]

References

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  1. ^ "Icelus spatula". WoRMS. World Register of Marine Species. Retrieved 9 July 2022.
  2. ^ a b Fedorov, V.V., 1986. Cottidae. p. 1243-1260. In P.J.P. Whitehead, M.-L. Bauchot, J.-C. Hureau, J. Nielsen and E. Tortonese (eds.) Fishes of the North-eastern Atlantic and the Mediterranean. UNESCO, Paris. Vol. 3.
  3. ^ Robins, C.R. and G.C. Ray, 1986. A field guide to Atlantic coast fishes of North America. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, U.S.A. 354 p.
  4. ^ Tokranov, A.M. and A.M. Orlov, 2005. Some features of the biology of Icelus spatula (Cottidae) in Pacific waters off the northern Kuril Islands. J. Ichthyol. 45(3):229-236.
  5. ^ Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.). "Icelus spatula". FishBase. February 2015 version.
  6. ^ Christopher Scharpf & Kenneth J. Lazara (22 September 2018). "Order PERCIFORMES: Suborder COTTOIDEI: Infraorder COTTALES: Family COTTIDAE (Sculpins)". The ETYFish Project Fish Name Etymology Database. Christopher Scharpf and Kenneth J. Lazara. Retrieved 21 August 2024.