Banded Sculpin (Cottus carolinae)


The Banded Sculpin has a patchy distribution in the Mississippi River Drainage, including the Ouachita and Ozark mountains as well as the eastern uplands from Indiana and Alabama. They are also found in the Mobile Basin. They live in a variety of habitats from streams to small rivers and are primarily associated with swift-moving currents. As the common name suggests, Banded Sculpins have four to five dark saddles across their back that extend onto their sides as bands. Like all sculpins, they are ambush predators that use their cryptic coloration to hide on stream bottoms and eat anything that fits into their extremely large mouth.