Banded Sculpin

Cottus carolinae

About This Fish

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.

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Cottus

Tennessee (TN), Alabama (AL), Georgia (GA), Kentucky (KY), Virginia (VA), Mississippi (MS), North Carolina (NC)

Conasauga – 03150101, Coosawattee – 03150102, Oostanaula – 03150103, Etowah – 03150104, Upper Coosa – 03150105, Middle Coosa – 03150106, Lower Coosa – 03150107, Lower Tallapoosa – 03150110, Upper Alabama – 03150201, Cahaba – 03150202, Lower Alabama – 03150204, Mulberry – 03160109, Locust – 03160111, Upper Black Warrior – 03160112, Lower Tombigbee – 03160203, Rockcastle – 05130102, Upper Cumberland-Lake Cumberland – 05130103, South Fork Cumberland – 05130104, Obey – 05130105, Upper Cumberland-Cordell Hull Reservior – 05130106, Collins – 05130107, Caney – 05130108, Lower Cumberland-Old Hickory Lake – 05130201, Lower Cumberland-Sycamore – 05130202, Stones – 05130203, Harpeth – 05130204, Lower Cumberland – 05130205, Red – 05130206, North Fork Holston – 06010101, South Fork Holston – 06010102, Watauga, North Carolina, Tennessee – 06010103, Holston – 06010104, Upper French Board – 06010105, Pigeon – 06010106, Lower French Board – 06010107, Nolichucky – 06010108, Watts Bar Lake – 06010201, Upper Little Tennessee – 06010202, Tuckasegee – 06010203, Lower Little Tennessee – 06010204, Upper Clinch, Tennessee, Virginia – 06010205, Powell – 06010206, Lower Clinch – 06010207, Emory – 06010208, Middle Tennessee-Chickamauga – 06020001, Hiwassee – 06020002, Ocoee – 06020003, Sequatchie – 06020004, Guntersville Lake – 06030001, Wheeler Lake – 06030002, Upper Elk – 06030003, Lower Elk – 06030004, Pickwick Lake – 06030005, Bear – 06030006, Lower Tennessee-Beech – 06040001, Upper Duck – 06040002, Lower Duck – 06040003, Buffalo – 06040004, Kentucky Lake – 06040005

Banded Sculpin

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