Enophrys
Genus of fishes
title: "Enophrys" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["cottinae", "enophrys", "taxa-named-by-william-swainson"] description: "Genus of fishes" topic_path: "general/cottinae" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enophrys" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Genus of fishes ::
| fossil_range = Potential Eocene record | image = Juvenile Buffalo sculpin (Enophrys bison) 196mm.jpg | image_caption = Buffalo Sculpin (E. bison) | image2 = Antlered Sculpin.jpg | image2_caption = Antlered Sculpin (E. diceraus) | taxon = Enophrys | authority = Swainson, 1839 | type_species = Cottus claviger | type_species_authority = Cuvier, 1829 | synonyms = {{Genus list | Aspicottus | Girard, 1854 | Ceratocottus | Gill, 1859 | Clypeocottus | Ayres, 1854 | synonyms_ref =
Enophrys is a genus of marine ray-finned fishes belonging to the family Psychrolutidae, the marine sculpins. These fishes are found in the northern and eastern Pacific Ocean.
Taxonomy
Enophrys was first proposed as a monospecific genus in 1839 by the English zoologist William Swainson with its only and type species being Cottus claviger. The 5th edition of Fishes of the World classifies this genus within the subfamily Cottinae of the family Cottidae, however, other authors classify the genus within the subfamily Myoxocephalinae of the family Psychrolutidae,
Etymology
Enophrys prefixes phrys, meaning "brow", with en, ning "very", presumed to be a reference to the thick orbital ridge of the type species.
Species
Enophrys contains 4 recognized species within it:
- Enophrys bison (Girard, 1854) (Buffalo sculpin)
- Enophrys diceraus (Pallas, 1787) (Antlered sculpin)
- Enophrys lucasi (D. S. Jordan & C. H. Gilbert, 1898) (Leister sculpin)
- Enophrys taurina C. H. Gilbert, 1914 (Bull sculpin) The fossil species †Enophrys hoplites Nazarkin, 2017 is known from complete fossil skeletons recovered from the Middle Miocene-aged Agnevo Formation of Sakhalin, Russia. In addition, the potential fossil species †Enophrys euglyphus Stinton, 1966 is known from isolated otoliths recovered from the Early Eocene-aged London Clay of England.
Characteristics
Enophrys sculpins share the possession of plates along their lateral lines and some species have prickly scales underneath the lateral line. They also have a very long, sharp spine on the upper preoperculum and sharp spines on the nose. The bull sculpin is the smallest species with a maximum recorded total length of 17 cm while the largest species is the buffalo sculpin which reaches a maximum published total length of 37 cm.
Distribution
Enophrys sculpins are only found in the northern and Eastern Pacific Oceans from the Sea of Japan to California.
References
References
- {{Cof family
- This species had been [[Species description. described]] in 1839 by the French zoologist [[Georges Cuvier]] from [[Kamchatka Krai. Kamchatka]] but it was later determined to be a [[Synonym (taxonomy)
- (2016). "Fishes of the World". Wiley.
- (22 October 2022). "Order Perciformes: Suborder Cottoidea: Infraorder Cottales: Family Cottidae (Sculpins)". Christopher Scharpf and Kenneth J. Lazara.
- {{FishBase genus. (2022)
- Nazarkin, M. V.. (2017-01-01). "A new horned sculpin (Pisces: Cottidae) from the Miocene of Sakhalin Island, Russia". Paleontological Journal.
- Matthew L. Knope. (2013). "Phylogenetics of the marine sculpins (Teleostei: Cottidae) of the North American Pacific Coast". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution.
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