Belligerent Sculpin

The belligerent sculpin has a broad, strongly flattened head, much wider than it is deep with a projecting lower jaw. The top and the sides of the head are very warty and there are large spines or bumps behind the eye and on the nape, these may have short cirri on them. The first and second spines on the preoperculum are curved, the third and fourth are poorly developed. There are irregular rows of spiny plates over and under the lateral line. The colour is grey-brown marked with yellow or white spotting and blotching. The fins have spots and bars. This species reaches a maximum published total length of 42 cm (17 in).

The belligerent sculpin is found in the northern Pacific Ocean. Its range extends from the Sea of Japan, through the Sea of Okhotsk and the northern Kuril Islands and the southeastern Kamchatka Peninsula east to the Alaska Peninsula and north along the Bering Sea coasts of Alaska and Russia to the Chukchi Sea. It is a demersal fish, typically found in the subtidal zone down to depths of 40 m (130 ft), although 120 m (390 ft) has been claimed. It is found on substrates of sand, mud and gravel, especially where there are beds of Fucus and Zostera. It is generally found in brackish water close to river mouths, near to the shore and in shallow water.