The Bear Lake sculpin, Cottus extensus, occasionally referred to incorrectly as a "bullhead", is a species of freshwater sculpin

Cottus (genus)

Cottus is a genus of the sculpin family Cottidae. It is often referred to as the "freshwater sculpins", as the principal genus of sculpins to be found in fresh water.They are mostly small fish, rarely reaching more than 15 cm in length.-Species:...

 endemic

Endemic (ecology)

Endemism is the ecological state of being unique to a defined geographic location, such as an island, nation or other defined zone, or habitat type; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsewhere. For example, all species of lemur are endemic to the...

 to Bear Lake

Bear Lake (Idaho-Utah)

Bear Lake is a natural freshwater lake on the Utah-Idaho border in the Western United States. It is the second largest natural freshwater lake in Utah and has been called the "Caribbean of the Rockies" for its unique turquoise-blue color, the result of suspended limestone deposits in the water...

 on the Utah

Utah

Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...

-Idaho

Idaho

Idaho is a state in the Rocky Mountain area of the United States. The state's largest city and capital is Boise. Residents are called "Idahoans". Idaho was admitted to the Union on July 3, 1890, as the 43rd state....

 border. It is one of only four sculpins native to Utah, and the only extant lake-dwelling sculpin in Utah (see Utah Lake sculpin

Utah Lake sculpin

The Utah Lake sculpin, Cottus echinatus, was a species of freshwater sculpin endemic to Utah Lake, located in the north-central part of the U.S. state of Utah. The last collected specimen was taken in 1928, and the species is believed to have disappeared during the 1930s, when a severe drought led...

). Although the fish is only native to Bear Lake, it has been introduced

Introduced species

An introduced species — or neozoon, alien, exotic, non-indigenous, or non-native species, or simply an introduction, is a species living outside its indigenous or native distributional range, and has arrived in an ecosystem or plant community by human activity, either deliberate or accidental...

 and established in Flaming Gorge Reservoir

Flaming Gorge Reservoir

Flaming Gorge Reservoir is a reservoir in Wyoming and Utah, on the Green River, created by Flaming Gorge Dam. Construction on the dam began in 1958 and was completed in 1964...

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The Bear Lake sculpin is a benthic

Benthic zone

The benthic zone is the ecological region at the lowest level of a body of water such as an ocean or a lake, including the sediment surface and some sub-surface layers. Organisms living in this zone are called benthos. They generally live in close relationship with the substrate bottom; many such...

 fish and feeds on invertebrates. It is an important forage species for the native Bear Lake strain of Bonneville cutthroat trout

Bonneville cutthroat trout

The Bonneville cutthroat trout is a subspecies of cutthroat trout native to tributaries of the Great Salt Lake, U.S.A. Most of the fish's current and historic range is in Utah, but they are also found in Idaho, Wyoming, and Nevada...

 and the nonnative Lake trout

Lake trout

Lake trout is a freshwater char living mainly in lakes in northern North America. Other names for it include mackinaw, lake char , touladi, togue, and grey trout. In Lake Superior, they can also be variously known as siscowet, paperbellies and leans...

 in Bear lake.

The species spawns between the months of April and May among rocks close to shore, and is listed as a Wildlife Species of Concern by the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources

Utah Division of Wildlife Resources

The Utah Division of Wildlife Resources is part of the Utah Department of Natural Resources for the state of Utah in the United States. The mission of the Division of Wildlife Resources is to serve the people of Utah as trustee and guardian of the state's wildlife, and to ensure its future and...

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