Mottled Sculpin - Ecology

Ecology

Mottled sculpins are known for living in fast moving current areas where they feed primarily on bottom dwelling aquatic insects. One study found that bottom dwelling aquatic insects make up 99.7% of the mottled sculpin’s diet, with dipterous larvae and pupae being the most common type found. The remaining 0.3% was made up of snails, fingernail clams, water mites, sculpin eggs and fish. Thus the mottled sculpin is not a major threat to game fish though it has been found to eat trout eggs. Sculpin are cannibalistic. Males are known to eat their young if one contracts some kind of virus or fungus. The males also eat small females. Therefore older females are usually chosen for mates over younger females. The main predators of the sculpin are different species of game fish, such as brook trout, brown trout, northern pike, and smallmouth bass. All sculpin species are expected to coexist with species from the Salmonidae family. Its main competitors are other small bottom dwelling fish, especially other sculpin species . Female and immature mottled sculpins are commonly found in clean water rock substrates. On the other hand, males are commonly found in algae beds. The mean current velocity in which the fish is found is 0.28 m/sec. They prefer to inhabit cool clear streams. They will tolerate warmer streams but do not prefer them like Cottus girardi.