Mistaken for many years as the shorthead sculpin fish, the cedar sculpin has been recently identified as a new species through genetic testing.
Despite the wealth of existing information at our fingertips, new yet rare discoveries about the earth and its creatures continue to surface. Mistaken for many years as the shorthead sculpin fish, the cedar sculpin has been recently identified as a new species through genetic testing.
The University of Montana and the U.S. Forest Service asked the Missoula lab to test fish tissue samples after seeing some slight differences during a genetic inventory of fish in the Columbia River basin near the mountains of Idaho and Montana.
They confirmed the ancient-looking, camouflage-colored fish with a large head and body no more than 6 inches long was different in both the protective spiny protrusions from their heads as well as the unique way movement-detecting pores on both sides of the body lined up.
A favorite food of trout and salmon, cedar sculpin can be found in rivers throughout North America and are key indicators of how cool and clean the waters are.
The Coeur d’Alene Tribe’s elders were asked to give the fish its scientific name, part of which translates as “those who were found here” and references the tribe itself. The common name of “cedar sculpin” was picked because of the Western red cedar trees surrounding the area of discovery.
