The deep-water sculpins are a small family, Abyssocottidae, of sculpin

Sculpin

A Sculpin is a fish that belongs to the order Scorpaeniformes, suborder Cottoidei and superfamily Cottoidea, that contains 11 families, 149 genera, and 756 species...

s that are almost entirely restricted to Lake Baikal

Lake Baikal

Lake Baikal is the world's oldest at 30 million years old and deepest lake with an average depth of 744.4 metres.Located in the south of the Russian region of Siberia, between Irkutsk Oblast to the northwest and the Buryat Republic to the southeast, it is the most voluminous freshwater lake in the...

 in Siberia

Siberia

Siberia is an extensive region constituting almost all of Northern Asia. Comprising the central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, it was part of the Soviet Union from its beginning, as its predecessor states, the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire, conquered it during the 16th...

, most of them living at depths below 170 m.

Some species, such as Limnocottus godlewskii and Herzenstein's rough sculpin, Asprocottus herzensteini are abundant in the lake.

The largest species of the family is the red sculpin, Procottus jeittelesii, at 28 cm long, while the dwarf sculpin, Procottus gurwici, reaches just 6 cm.

Classification

In some classifications the genus Cyphocottus Gratzianov, 1902 is considered synonymous with Limnocottus, and some Procottus species are split into Metacottus Taliev, 1946.

There are currently thought to be twenty-four species in seven genera:

• Genus Abyssocottus
  • Abyssocottus elochini Taliev, 1955.
  • Abyssocottus gibbosus Berg, 1906.
  • Abyssocottus korotneffi Berg, 1906.
• Genus Asprocottus
  • Asprocottus abyssalis Taliev, 1955.
  • Herzenstein's rough sculpin, Asprocottus herzensteini Berg, 1906.
  • Asprocottus intermedius Taliev, 1955.
  • Asprocottus korjakovi minor Sideleva, 2001.
  • Asprocottus minor Sideleva, 2001.
  • Asprocottus parmiferus Taliev, 1955.
  • Asprocottus platycephalus Taliev, 1955.
  • Asprocottus pulcher Taliev, 1955.
• Genus Cottinella
  • Short-headed sculpin, Cottinella boulengeri (Berg, 1906).
• Genus Cyphocottus
  • Cyphocottus eurystomus (Taliev, 1955).
  • Cyphocottus megalops (Gratzianov, 1902).
• Genus Limnocottus
  • Limnocottus bergianus Taliev, 1935.
  • Limnocottus godlewskii (Dybowski, 1874).
  • Limnocottus griseus (Taliev, 1955).
  • Limnocottus pallidus Taliev, 1948.
• Genus Neocottus
  • Neocottus thermalis Sideleva, 2002.
  • Neocottus werestschagini (Taliev, 1935).
• Genus Procottus
  • Procottus gotoi Sideleva, 2001.
  • Dwarf sculpins, Procottus gurwicii (Taliev, 1946).
  • Red sculpin, Procottus jeittelesii (Dybowski, 1874).
  • Procottus major Taliev, 1949.