Introduction
Mottled sculpins, Cottus bairdi, are a common fish throughout most of North America. The only area that mottled sculpin are provided limited protection is in New Mexico. Mottled sculpins feed on a wide variety of organisms, including mollusks, snails, other mottled sculpins, and trout. Their diets are mainly made up of bottom-dwelling benthic insects. The favored habitat of a mottled sculpin is one rich in macroinvertebrate prey, which usually occurs in fast riffle areas with clear substrates and moderate velocities between 0.20m/s to 0.38m/s. Spawning season for the mottled sculpin starts in April or May with the males taking up residency in benthic rocks. Breeding season lasts for two to three months. Clutch size can vary anywhere from 8 eggs to 148 eggs for females. Males can have up to 1587 eggs in their nest. Sexual maturity is thought to be reached at two years of age. Climate change does not seem to be a threat to this species since they inhabit a wide range of temperature gradient throughout the United States. However, one human activity that affects them is runoff from mining, which particularly is harmful to the newly hatched larvae and developing eggs. Nothing is being done for current management for the mottled sculpin because it is a very abundant fish where it occurs. Future management could focus on the different metals that leak into the water from mining. The absence of the mottled sculpin from an area could tell us that the area has high levels of zinc, cadmium, or copper.
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