Yesterday, ๐ท'๐ฎ๐ถ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฒ๐๐ฒฬ ๐น๐ฒ ๐ฝ๐ผ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ ๐ฝ๐ผ๐ถ๐๐๐ผ๐ป๐ ๐ถ๐ป๐ฑ๐ถ๐ด๐ฒฬ๐ป๐ฒ๐ ๐ฑ๐ฒ ๐น'๐๐ฆ๐, ๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ป ๐ฝ๐ผ๐ถ๐๐๐ผ๐ป ๐ฎ ๐ฎ๐๐๐ถ๐ฟ๐ฒฬ ๐บ๐ผ๐ป ๐ฎ๐๐๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป. It looked small and was covered in fins. I opened the dictionary to find out more. Castle, Hat, Camel... Ah. There. Sculpin. "A small fish with a large spiny head, carnivorous, hunting by stalking. I don't know much more than that. So I asked the ASL.
The sculpin is a small fish - between 10 and 12 cm. It can be recognised by its large, flat head (1/3 the length of its body) and its conical shape. ๐๐น ๐ฒ๐๐ ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ฏ๐น๐ฒ ๐ฑ๐ฒ ๐บ๐ผ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ณ๐ถ๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ฝ๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐๐ฎ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐๐น๐ฒ๐๐ฟ ๐ฒ๐ป ๐ณ๐ผ๐ป๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐ฑ๐ ๐บ๐ถ๐น๐ถ๐ฒ๐ ๐ผ๐ฬ ๐ถ๐น ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐๐ฒ, known as homochromy. It can also be recognised by its large fins, but it has no scales!
Fish use fins to swim. The sculpin has six: two dorsal fins (on the back), a caudal fin (the tail), an anal fin (on the belly, behind the anus, it is almost white on the sculpin) and a pair of pectoral fins (on the sides). ๐๐น๐น๐ฒ๐ ๐น๐๐ถ ๐ฑ๐ผ๐ป๐ป๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐น'๐ฎ๐ฝ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐ฑ'๐๐ป ๐ฏ๐ผ๐น๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฒ ๐ฑ๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐๐ฟ๐๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐พ๐๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐พ๐๐ฒ.
In fact, this is not the case. ๐๐ฎ ๐ณ๐ฎ๐๐๐ฒ ๐ฎฬ ๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐พ๐ ๐ผ๐ป ๐ฎ๐ฝ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐น๐น๐ฒ ๐น๐ฎ ๐๐ฒ๐๐๐ถ๐ฒ ๐ป๐ฎ๐๐ฎ๐๐ผ๐ถ๐ฟ๐ฒ. This is a sort of buoy inside the fish's body that can fill or empty with air. When the fish fills it, it rises, and when it empties, it sinks. The sculpin, however, does not have one, which makes it very difficult for it to swim.
It therefore stays at the bottom of rivers and certain lakes, moving in small leaps. It particularly likes stony ground in cold, clear, oxygen-rich water. ๐๐๐ฎ๐ป๐ ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐๐ถ๐ฐ๐๐น๐ถ๐ฒฬ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ถ๐ฏ๐น๐ฒ ๐ฎฬ ๐น๐ฎ ๐ฝ๐ผ๐น๐น๐๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป, ๐ฒ๐ ๐ป๐ฒ ๐ฝ๐ผ๐๐๐ฎ๐ป๐ ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ ๐ณ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ถ๐น๐ฒ๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐ณ๐๐ถ๐ฟ, ๐๐ฎ ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ฒฬ๐๐ฒ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐ถ๐ป๐ฑ๐ถ๐พ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ป๐ฒ ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ ๐ฝ๐๐ฟ๐ฒ.
๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ ๐ฑ๐ฒ ๐๐ฎ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ฑ๐๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป, ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ณ๐ฒฬ๐๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ฒ๐ ๐บ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐, ๐น๐ฎ ๐ณ๐ฒ๐บ๐ฒ๐น๐น๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐น๐น๐ฒ ๐๐ฒ๐ ล๐๐ณ๐ ๐๐ผ๐๐ ๐น๐ฒ๐ ๐ฝ๐ถ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐. They stay there for between 3 and 4 weeks, watched over by the male... except when he gets hungry and eats some of the eggs! After hatching, the young are fed for 10 to 12 days. They then hunt with their own fins. They live between 3 and 5 years but rarely die of old age.
This is mainly due to the trout - its main predator - but also to the bullhead, pike, eel, perch and chub. ๐ฃ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ถ๐ฒ, ๐ถ๐น ๐ฒ๐๐ ๐ฒฬ๐ด๐ฎ๐น๐ฒ๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ฒฬ๐ฑ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐๐ฟ. At night, it leaves its hiding place (plant, rock) to feast on the larvae of black flies or whipworms and the eggs of other fish.
The poster of the native fish of Lake Geneva is available at the ASL shop.
Information taken from :
Burgun, Schweyer, "Le Chabot Commun", in Natura 2000 en Loraine, Les espรจces.
Delachaux - Freshwater fish and fish species of Western and Central Europe (March 2015 edition)
DORIS, Common sculpin
Photo credits: Hans Hillewaert and E. Donovan
