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

About Wood River Sculpin
The Wood River sculpin (Cottus leiopomus) is a species of freshwater ray-finned fish belonging to the family Cottidae, the typical sculpins. It is endemic to the Big Wood and Little Wood rivers and their tributaries upstream of Magic Reservoir in Blaine County, Idaho in the United States. Its habitat is similar to other sculpins: small to medium-sized streams that are cool and have swift currents. It is a species of concern because of its restricted distribution.
Diet and feeding
The FishTraits compilation records these diet categories for this species: invertebrates or larval fish; larger animal prey (a source category covering fish, crayfish, crabs, or frogs); fish or frog eggs. 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 gravel, cobble. An association indicates reported use, rather than an exclusive requirement.
Reproduction and parental care
The compilation reports a representative maturity age of 2.5 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 May, Jun for the source’s reporting region (ID). 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 11 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 leiopomus
- ITIS TSN
- 167246
- WoRMS AphiaID
- 1019367
- GBIF key
- 2334122
Common questions about Wood River Sculpin
What is the scientific name of Wood River Sculpin?
Does Wood River Sculpin live in fresh water or salt water?
Where has Wood River Sculpin been recorded in the United States?
Closest relatives
Other Cottus species
Same family