Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jun 9, 2026

Grotto sculpin

The grotto sculpin is a species of freshwater ray-finned fish belonging to the family Cottidae, the typical sculpins. It is found in the United States where it only inhabits the Bois Brule drainage in Perry County of southeastern Missouri. It reaches a maximum standard length of 10.3 cm (4.1 in). This cavefish lives in underground streams and their resurgences. It was formerly confused with the more widespread C. carolinae, but can be separated by its smaller eyes and various degrees of reduced pigmentation. It is one of only three known cases of troglomorphism in the sculpin family, the others also involving U.S. Cottus.

Last revised
Jun 9, 2026
Read time
≈ 1 min
Length
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Citations
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Grotto sculpin
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Perciformes
Suborder: Cottoidei
Family: Cottidae
Genus: Cottus
Species:
C. specus
Binomial name
Cottus specus
G. L. Adams & Burr, 2013

The grotto sculpin (Cottus specus) is a species of freshwater ray-finned fish belonging to the family Cottidae, the typical sculpins.2 It is found in the United States where it only inhabits the Bois Brule drainage (although not recorded from the main stream itself) in Perry County of southeastern Missouri.3 It reaches a maximum standard length of 10.3 cm (4.1 in).2 This cavefish lives in underground streams and their resurgences.2 It was formerly confused with the more widespread C. carolinae, but can be separated by (among others) its smaller eyes and various degrees of reduced pigmentation.23 It is one of only three known cases of troglomorphism in the sculpin family, the others also involving U.S. Cottus (C. bairdi—cognatus species complex in Pennsylvania, and C. carolinae in West Virginia).3

References

References

  1. "Grotto Sculpin (Cottus specus)". U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. 21 September 2016. Retrieved 30 April 2017.
  2. Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.). "Cottus specus". FishBase. February 2014 version.
  3. Adams, G.L.; B.M. Burr; J.L. Day; D.E. Starkey (2013). "Cottus specus, a new troglomorphic species of sculpin (Cottidae) from southeastern Missouri". Zootaxa. 3609 (5): 484–494. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.3609.5.4. PMID 24699612. S2CID 11491879.