Columbia Sculpin

Illustration of Columbia sculpin, Cottus hubbsi, by Diana McPhail.

Species at Risk Act

Status: Special Concern

Management Plan: in review

COSEWIC Summary

Date of Assessment: May 2000

Common Name (population): Columbia Sculpin

Scientific Name: Cottus hubbsi

COSEWIC Status: Special Concern

Reason for Designation: This subspecies of the mottled sculpin occurs in southern British Columbia, and is impacted by habitat loss. The risk of extirpation is reduced by the possibility of rescue from nearby populations in the USA.

Canadian Occurrence: British Columbia

COSEWIC Status History: Designated Special Concern in May 2000. Assessment based on a new status report.

Brief Description of Columbia Sculpin and Its Habitat

Columbia sculpin occur sympatrically or within the range of other sculpin species (prickly sculpin Cottus asper, torrent sculpin Cottus rhotheus, and shorthead sculpin Cottus confusus) and can be difficult to distinguish in the field, even by trained biologists and ichthyologists.  Several characters are typically required to confidently identify C. hubbsi, including fin ray counts, tooth pattern, lateral line development, presence of prickles, head length, and body coloration.  Columbia sculpin usually have three distinct bars or “saddles,” which extend from under the soft dorsal fin to about halfway down the body, and there is some coloration on the anal fin. 

Columbia sculpin are endemic to the Columbia River mainstem and tributaries downstream of Arrow Lakes.  In British Columbia they have been captured in the Similkameen River below Similkameen Falls, Tulameen River as far upstream as Lawless Creek, Kettle River below Cascade Falls, Columbia River mainstem and tributaries below Arrow Lakes, and Kootenay River and tributaries (including the Slocan River) below Bonnington Falls.  In the US, the Columbia sculpin inhabits most of the Columbia River drainage downstream of the Montana – Idaho border, including the Snake River drainage downstream of Shoshone Falls, Idaho.

Columbia sculpin appear to have broad habitat requirements.  They occur in rocky, riffle habitats in streams less than 5 m wide up to rivers the size of the Columbia mainstem.  They occur primarily in streams, although they occurred at one time in lakes in the Similkameen system before they were eradicated as part of fisheries enhancement programs in the 1950s.  They co-exist with prickly, torrent and shorthead sculpins, and there is some evidence of microhabitat partitioning among species and among life stages.  Rearing habitats are riffle areas of clear, cool streams, with cobble substrates.  Adults are associated with moderate currents (0.3 – 0.6 m sec^-1) and depths of 40 to 100 cm.  Juveniles typically occur in shallower, slower water than adults.  In July and August young of the year occur in quiet, shallow water along stream margins, sometimes in association with submerged vegetation.  Columbia sculpin are most active at night, and can be difficult to observe in the day.

Some References

Bailey, R. M. and M. F. Dimick. 1949. Cottus hubbsi, a new cottid fish from the Columbia River system in Washington and Idaho. Occasional Papers of the University of Michigan Museum of Zoology 513:1-18.

McPhail, J. D. 2001. Habitat use of vulnerable (Blue-listed) sculpins in the Kootenays.  Final report, HCTF project #0-217.

McPhail, J. D. 2007. The freshwater fishes of British Columbia. University of Alberta Press, Edmonton.

Neely, D. A. 2004. Identification of problematic sculpins from Montana using mtDNA sequence data and morphology.

Peden, A. E. 2000. COSEWIC status report on the Columbia mottled sculpin Cottus bairdi hubbsi.

Peden, A. E. and G. W. Hughes. 1984. Status of shorthead sculpin, Cottus confusus, in the Flathead River, British Columbia. Canadian Field-Naturalist 98:127-133.

Peden, A. E., G. W. Hughes, and W. E. Roberts. 1989. Morphologically distinct populations of the shorthead sculpin, Cottus confusus, and mottled sculpin, Cottus bairdi (Pisces, Cottidae), near the western border of Canada and the United States. Canadian Journal of Zoology 67:2711-2720.

Wydoski, R. S. and R. R. Whitney. 2003. Inland fishes of Washington. Second edition. American Fisheries Society in association with University of Washington Press.

Recovery Team Documents

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