Article text: Wikipedia contributors, Rough sculpin (source revision). Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Retrieved 2026-10-11.
Rough Sculpin
Cottus asperrimus
Cottidae · freshwater water fish
2 minute read · Species guide

About Rough Sculpin
The rough sculpin (Cottus asperrimus) is a species of fish in the family Cottidae. It is endemic to California in the United States. Its habitat includes spring-fed tributaries of the Pit River system in northeastern Shasta County, California, including the Fall River and its major tributary, the Tule River. It grows to 9.6 cm (3.8 in) total length.
Diet and feeding
The FishTraits compilation records these diet categories for this species: invertebrates or larval fish. These are broad categories, not a claim that every individual consumes every example in a category.
Reported feeding positions include bottom feeding. The compilation combines published observations; diets can vary with age, locality, and available food.
Habitat preferences
Reported habitat associations include streams and small rivers, creeks.
The source records associations with sand, gravel, vegetation. An association indicates reported use, rather than an exclusive requirement.
Reproduction and parental care
The compilation reports a representative maturity age of 2 years. Its maturity field summarizes mean, median, or modal estimates, usually for females; male estimates can be used when female data are unavailable. It is not a fixed age at which every fish first breeds.
Recorded spawning months are Feb, Mar, Apr, May for the source’s reporting region (CA). This is a regional calendar, not a range-wide schedule.
The reproductive-guild classification includes guarding eggs or young at a spawning substrate or nest.
Size and recorded longevity
FishTraits reports a maximum total length of 7 centimetres. Some entries use an estimated asymptotic length; this value should not be treated as a certified record catch.
Recorded longevity in the compilation is 5 years. Wild observations were preferred, but captive records were accepted where wild records were unavailable, and unspecified records were assumed wild. The value is not a guaranteed wild lifespan or an aquarium life expectancy.
Range
Where it lives
Share of records by state
Habitat
Water and movement
- Water
- WoRMS records this species in fresh water.
- Migration
- Not migratory
Classification
Taxonomy
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Superclass
- Actinopterygii
- Class
- Teleostei
- Order
- Scorpaeniformes
- Family
- Cottidae
- Genus
- Cottus
- Species
- Cottus asperrimus
- ITIS TSN
- 167235
- WoRMS AphiaID
- 1018198
- GBIF key
- 2334152
Common questions about Rough Sculpin
What is the scientific name of Rough Sculpin?
Does Rough Sculpin live in fresh water or salt water?
Where has Rough Sculpin been recorded in the United States?
Closest relatives
Other Cottus species
Same family