Spatulate Sculpin

A moderately abundant and widespread arctic sculpin

Feed mainly on large benthic prey including shrimp (e.g., Pandalus, Spirontocaris), amphipods, polychaetes; occasionally small molluscs

Little known; Spawn in late August-September (in Bering Sea); Females <11 cm produce 110-1,000 eggs, large females about 1,100-1,300 eggs

Arctic-subarctic; Benthic, at depths of 12-859 m (39-2,818 ft), typically < 365 m (1,197 ft) in the Arctic; On mud and sand to pebble substrate

One row of large, spiny scales beneath the dorsal fins; Spiny, tubular lateral line scales; One or two pairs of bony protuberances on top of head; Caudal peduncle scales absent; Lateral line scales extending to posterior edge of hypural plate (none on caudal fin rays); Genital papilla of males with a spatulate (dorsoventrally flattened) terminal appendage