Common name: Shoshone Sculpin

Taxonomy: available through www.itis.gov

Identification: Simpson and Wallace (1978); Page and Burr (1991).

Size: to 9 cm (Griffith and Daley 1984).

Native Range: Rocky springs and their effluents in Hagerman Valley in the Snake River drainage, Idaho (Wallace et al. 1984; Page and Burr 1991; Kuda and Griffith 1993).

Alaska	Hawaii	Puerto Rico & Virgin Islands	Guam Saipan

Native range data for this species provided in part by NatureServe

Hydrologic Unit Codes (HUCs) Explained
Interactive maps: Point Distribution Maps

Ecology: Shoshone Sculpin is a small, short-lived cottid, generally living up to 3 years. Generally found in cool, well-oxygenated, low velocity waters with abundant benthic structuure and aquatic vegetation in the Thousand Springs formation. Diet of this species generally consists of plankton and aquatic insects (Griffith and Daley 1984).

Means of Introduction: Stocked for conservation purposes in an attempt to expand this species' very limited range. The Shoshone Sculpin's native habitat was under immediate threat due to water diversion for irrigation and development of springs for commercial trout production (Simpson and Wallace 1978).

Status: The introduced population became established and was the predominant fish in Transplant Spring within eight years of its introduction (Kuda and Griffith 1993).

Impact of Introduction: Kuda and Griffith (1993) suggested that C. greenei displaced native mottled sculpin C. bairdii, causing the latter species to move from aquatic vegetation and low water velocity areas into sites with more moderate current.

Remarks: The Transplant Spring plant represents a true introduction as opposed to a reintroduction of a species into its former native habitat because the spring was apparently never occupied by C. greenei in the past. Prior to the elimination of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service candidate species list, the Shoshone Sculpin was under review for Federal listing as an endangered or threatened species (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 1994a).

References: (click for full references)

Griffith, J. and D. M. Daley. 1984. Re-establishment of Shoshone sculpin (Cottus greenei) in the Hagerman Valley, Idaho. Final Report to the Idaho Fish and Game Nongame Program.

Kuda, D. B., and J. S. Griffith. 1993. Establishment of Shoshone sculpin (Cottus greenei) in a spring inhabited by mottled sculpin (C. bairdii). Great Basin Naturalist 53(2):190--193.

Page, L. M., and B. M. Burr. 1991. A field guide to freshwater fishes of North America north of Mexico. The Peterson Field Guide Series, volume 42. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, MA.

Simpson, J., and R. Wallace. 1978. Fishes of Idaho. University of Idaho Press, Moscow, ID.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 1994a. Endangered and threatened wildlife and plants: animal candidate review for listing as endangered or threatened species. 50 CFR 17.11 & 17.12. Federal Register, November 15, 1994. 59(219):58982--589028. U.S. Department of the Interior, Washington, DC.

Wallace, R. L., J. S. Griffith, Jr., D. M. Daley, P. J. Connolly, and G. B. Beckham. 1984. Distribution of the Shoshone sculpin (Cottus greenei: Cottidae) in the Hagerman Valley of south central Idaho. Great Basin Naturalist 44(2):324--326.

Other Resources:

Author: Pam Fuller, and Matt Neilson

Peer Review Date: 3/1/2012

This information is preliminary or provisional and is subject to revision. It is being provided to meet the need for timely best science. The information has not received final approval by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and is provided on the condition that neither the USGS nor the U.S. Government shall be held liable for any damages resulting from the authorized or unauthorized use of the information.