Polar sculpin, Cottunculus microps.

Polar Sculpin, Cottunculus microps

The polar sculpin likes cold water! Its range extends from the north shore of Baffin Island, south through the North Atlantic to New Jersey, and in Barents and the North Seas, as well as off the coasts of Greenland and Norway. It prefers a water temperature of 1.3°C to 4°C, one aspect of its biology that differs from its relative, the pallid sculpin. The polar sculpin feeds on a variety of invertebrates on the ocean floor, at depths between 170 and 895 m.

This soft sculpin has a distinctive appearance, with rough spiny skin, including several noticeable thick, short spines on top of the head. Its pectoral fins are quite large and fan-like, and the body is broadly striped, alternating beige and dark brown. These bands of colour provide excellent camouflage against rocky bottoms, a defence to avoid predation from skates and other fishes. It grows to a size of 30 cm, although most individuals are about 10–15 cm in length.

Like the pallid sculpin, females of this species do not produce large numbers of eggs, 220 being the most that has ever been recorded. Its eggs, measuring 4.5 mm in diameter, are large for a fish of this size. Spawning is thought to occur in June and July.