Southern flathead sculpin

The southern flathead sculpin (Megalocottus taeniopterus) is a species of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Cottidae, the typical sculpins. This species occurs in the northern Pacific Ocean.

Southern flathead sculpin
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Order:	Perciformes
Suborder:	Cottoidei
Family:	Psychrolutidae
Genus:	Megalocottus
Species:	M. taeniopterus
Binomial name
Megalocottus taeniopterus (Kner, 1868)
Synonyms[1]
Cottus taeniopterus Kner, 1868 Megalocottus platycephalus taeniopterus (Kner, 1868) Myoxocephalus platycephalus taeniopterus (Kner, 1868)

Taxonomy

The southern flathead sculpin was first formally described as Cottus taeniopterus by the Austrian ichthyologist Rudolf Kner with its type locality given as Decastris Bay near the mouth of the Amur River in Russia.^[2] Some authorities consider that this species as a subspecies or junior synonym of M. platycephalus.^[3] FishBase still recognises two species within the genus Megalocottus.^[4]

Distribution

The southern flathead sculpin is found in the northwestern Pacific Ocean in Amur Liman, Peter the Great Gulf and around southern Sakhalin. ^[1]