The distribution of the fathead sculpin species Cottunculus subspinosus Jensen, 1902

• Published in: Fauna norvegica
• Main Authors: Ingvar Byrkjedal, Gunnar Langhelle, Jørgen Schou Christiansen, Oleg V. Karamushko
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Norwegian University of Science and Technology 2018
• Subjects: Teleostei; Norwegian Sea; distribution; Zoology; QL1-991; Greenland; East Greenland; Greenland Sea; Iceland; Nordic Seas
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.5324/fn.v38i0.2381; https://doaj.org/article/f6522d64c213453c935e978df41fc106

The range of the rarely caught fathead sculpin species Cottunculus subspinosus has been considered restricted to the waters off East Greenland and Northeast Iceland. For the first time the species is recorded from the east side of the Norwegian Sea, and also it is found further north in the Greenland Sea than previously known. Mapping all the corroborated specimens known indicates that the species seems confined to the continental slopes of the Nordic Seas, where it is found in waters with a temperature below zero and a depth of more than 900 m. Depth distribution shows almost no overlap with the closely related sympatric Cottunculus microps, perhaps as a result of competitive exclusion.