• Family: Cottidae (Sculpins) • Other Names: Great Lakes Mottled
Sculpin and Northern Mottled Sculpin • Ohio Status: No special
status • Adult Size: Typically 2-4 inches, can reach 5 inches. •
Typical Foods: Crustaceans, small fish such as darters, and
various aquatic invertebrates. The mottled sculpin and other
sculpin species have no scales. Their eyes are positioned on top
of a rather large head. Mottled sculpins also have a relatively
large mouth. The second dorsal fin and anal fin are rather long
and they have large fan like pectoral fins. Mottled sculpins
have 3-4 dark saddles going over their back and down their
sides. They have a single straight spine just in front of the
gill opening on either side of the head and an incomplete
lateral line. As their name suggests they have a mottled color
pattern of various shades of brown, gray, and black with a
lighter cream colored belly. They also have a dark vertical bar
at the base of their tail. Breeding males usually have a bright
orange band on the outer ed