Bonyhead Sculpin, Artedius notospilotus
Bonyhead Sculpin, Artedius notospilotus. Both fish caught from within the Santa Cruz Harbor, Santa Cruz, California, June 2022. Length: 13 cm (5.1 inches) each. Catch, photographs, and identifications courtesy of Chris Moore, Peoria, Arizona. Note the prominent spot at the rear of the dorsal fin of the first fish that is absent from the second fish.
Bonyhead Sculpin, Artedius notospilotus. Fish caught from coastal waters off Santa Cruz, California, August 2021. Length: 16 cm (6.3 inches). Catch, photograph and identification courtesy of Luke Ovgard, Klamath Falls, Oregon.
The Bonyhead Sculpin, Artedius notospilotus, is a member of the Sculpin or Cottidae Family, that is also known as the Bonehead Sculpin and Mexico as charrasco huesudo. Globally there are five species in the Genus Artedius of which three are found in Mexican waters of the Pacific Ocean.
The Bonyhead Sculpin has a robust body with a large broad depressed head. The mouth extends to rear margin of the large eyes. They are a mottled brown and white with six dark saddles along the dorsal region interspersed with white saddle that transitions to a honeycomb pattern ventrally. There is a large white area behind the head. The anal and dorsal fins are transparent with brown spines and rays, the caudal fin has a dark base followed by a white bar, three brown bars, a wide brown area and a white margin, and the pectoral and pelvic fins have brown bars. Their anal fin has 12 to 14 rays; their caudal fin is square, their first dorsal fin has 7 to 10 spines and their second dorsal fin has 13 to 15 rays.
The Bonyhead Sculpin is an uncommon demersal species that is found in shallow subtidal waters at depths up to 52 m (170 feet). They reach a maximum length of 25.4 cm (10 inches). They consume algae, amphipods, copepods, polychaetes, shrimps, and snails. In turn they are preyed upon by a wide variety of fish. Reproduction is oviparous with batch spawning with external fertilization; each female releases eggs in protected locations among rocks and is guarded by the males. The Bonyhead Sculpin is poorly studied with very limited information available about their lifestyle and behavioral patterns including specific details on age, growth, longevity, movement patterns, diet, habitat use, and reproduction.
The Bonyhead Sculpin is a resident of Mexican waters of the Pacific but has a limited distribution, being found from Punta Rocosa, Baja California, northward along the northwest coast of Baja.
Due to the colorations the Bonyhead Sculpin is straightforward to identify and cannot be confused with any other species.
From a conservation perspective the Bonyhead Sculpin has not been formally evaluated. They are relatively small in stature and uncommon being of limited interest to most. They have been dated to the Late Pliocene Period, 1.8 million years ago.