diversity of Cottus

Wanted: Your help to understand the diversity of Cottus in western North America

Locations with samples updated in February, 2016. Fishes of the genus Cottus –the sculpins— have long been a challenge for fish managers and ichthyologists in the West. They share streams, rivers, and lakes with trout and salmon, and depend on the same kinds of habitats with relatively cold, clean water. Yet we don’t know how many kinds of sculpins there are. The morphological differences between species are so subtle that even experts are occasionally baffled. Thus, it seems likely that the biodiversity of sculpins in the West is underestimated and unappreciated.

“In our studies of the freshwater cottid fishes of western North America we have encountered four unnamed species. Our systematic review is still incomplete . . .”

-- Reeve Bailey & Carl Bond, 1963

	The last major attempt to understand this diversity was over a half-century ago. With your assistance, we would like to renew the efforts to characterize the sculpins of western North America.

Interested in the project? If you’re a biologist with historical samples, recently collected ones, or are thinking about making collections, we’d be interested in examining some of your fish. We seek tissues from up to 5 individuals (or even 1–2) of all sculpin species from individual sites in any river basin in western North America—the Columbia, Colorado, Fraser, upper Missouri, or coastal river basins, and the Great Basin.

Data wanted: fin clips (on chromatography paper, in coin envelopes, or in ethyl alcohol) or whole-body specimens (in ethyl alcohol), GPS data, date, and your contact information.

To participate and for more details, contact Michael Young (michael.k.young@usda.gov; 406-542-3254)

Publications & Posters

Carim, K. J., T. Wilcox, M.K. Young, K.S. McKelvey, and M.K. Schwartz. 2014. Protocol for collecting eDNA samples from streams. U.S.D.A. Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station V1.5 (July 2014).

Lemoine, Michael; Young, Michael K.; McKelvey, Kevin S.; Eby, Lisa; Pilgrim, Kristine L.; Schwartz, Michael K. 2014. Cottus schitsuumsh, a new species of sculpin (Scorpaeniformes: Cottidae) in the Columbia River basin, Idaho-Montana, USA. Zootaxa. 3755(3): 241-258.

McKelvey, K. S.; Young, M. K.; Knotek, W. L.; Carim, K. J.; Wilcox, T. M.; Padgett-Stewart, T. M.; Schwartz, M. K. 2016. Sampling large geographic areas for rare species using environmental DNA: A study of bull trout Salvelinus confluentus occupancy in western Montana. Journal of Fish Biology. doi: 10.1111/jfb.12863.

Wilcox, Taylor M.; McKelvey, Kevin S.; Young, Michael K.; Sepulveda, Adam J.; Shepard, Bradley B.; Jane, Stephen F.; Whiteley, Andrew R.; Lowe, Winsor H.; Schwartz, Michael K. 2016. Understanding environmental DNA detection probabilities: A case study using a stream-dwelling char Salvelinus fontinalis. Biological Conservation. 194: 209-216.

Young, Michael K.; McKelvey, Kevin S.; Pilgrim, Kristine L.; Schwartz, Michael K. 2013. DNA barcoding at riverscape scales: Assessing biodiversity among fishes of the genus Cottus (Teleostei) in northern Rocky Mountain streams. Molecular Ecology. doi: 10.1111/1755-0998.12091

Young, Micahel K.; Isaak, Daniel J. 2014. Wanted: Your help to understand the diversity of Cottus in western North America. Poster.

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