Scaley head sculpin?

[aviddiver.her]

After reading Janna's post http://www.nwdiveclub.com/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=8436 regarding the ID of a Coralline vs Scaley head Sculpin I thought I'd make this post.

Last month I was diving Wharf II in Monterey CA. On the concrete wall I found a relatively large fish with large cirri on it's head hanging out upside down in a hole. I got a lot of bad photos trying to get a goood compositon with an upside down fish in a hole. It stayed in the hole so I assumed it was some sort of Fringehead. From ID photos it looked so much like a Onespot fingehead to me but I couldn't find it's "one spot" in any photos. I asked around and a very knowledgeable bay area diver suggested it is likely a rather large male Scaleyhead sculpin. After looking at photos in Paul Humann's ID book I think he may be correct. And the explanation for why it was hanging out in a whole rather than fliting about? Eggs! When I returned later in the dive the fish was right side up in the hole and kept hunkering down toward the bottom of the hole (where the eggs were). Unfortunately the eggs only show in two images and neither has a good image of the fish . I've oriented each image so the fish is in the position I found it in relative to the top/bottom.
So, what do you all think? Is this a male Scaleyhead?

[Gooch]

Great shots! I like the eye in the first picture....

[Dusty2]

Great shots! Yes it is a classic fully mature male scaly head. The two large cirri over the eyes and the orange gills as well as the candy stripe eyes are positive ID factors. The two extra cirri behind the eyes as well as the large ones in front of the eyes are signs of maturity and desirability to lady scaly heads. Hence the eggs!

[nwscubamom]

I agree with Dusty - very mature male Scalyhead Sculpin. Your 2nd shot down from the top shows the orange gills, and the two gigantor cirri coming out of the FRONT of the eyes is very male scalyhead. Note this one is old - and he's got the botox lips to show for it too.

Great closeup shots. Here's a not-so-crisp one I took years ago of one in a Giant Barnacle shell.

Male Scalyhead Sculpin - Point Whitney, Hood Canal, WA

Dusty, that's really interesting about the 2nd set of cirri behind the eyes! Good info - learn something new every day.

Bring on more sculpins! Got any Corallines that you've shot from the side view?

- Janna

[aviddiver.her]

Great, another fish photo with a positive ID. Thanks again!

Bring on more sculpins! Got any Corallines that you've shot from the side view?

Janna, I have a handful of sculpin photos I attached names to in 2005. Some may have incorrect names and some of which may or may not be corallines. I'll post them here, you tell me which are corallines then I'll check any other images I have of them and see if I've got side views.

[nwscubamom]

Hey Nancy!

Here's what I think:
Top one is a Coralline. Colors and patterns vary widely, so you can't really go off that. The head shape and lips sure look like a Coralline, and all the other clues point to it as well.

I think the 2nd one is a Coralline as well - because of the head shape, and lack of cirri on the head.

The one you thought might be a Scalyhead, doesn't have any cirri on its head, and I don't see orange gills (you usually see a hint of orange from that angle). So I think that's a Coralline as well.

And the last one, I agree, is a Snubnose.

My 2 psi! Thanks for posting these!

- Janna

[aviddiver.her]

Okay, thanks. I'll look and see if I have any side shots of those. I assume you are looking for something that show the orange patch in the smooth area below the lateral line?

[Zen Diver]

Interesting pix and thread here, thanks for the tips!

Valerie

[nwscubamom]

Yeah, although I don't think the orange patch is always present - but I'd like to look at the scales above the lateral line and other features too - if you have any side shots. That would be great!

- Janna

[aviddiver.her]

I didn't have much luck. Since I'm not generally photographing for the purpose of ID I usually don't take direct side shots if I can help it. I do have a partial side shot of #2 that shows the scales. I don’t know if that helps.
I found another what I think is a Snubnose that shows side detail very well. Though I don't know if you have any need for a Snubnose side shot. The thing I noticed is that it looks like it has a hint of orange the gill. Do Snubnoses have orange on the gills?

[nwscubamom]

Not that I know of...but I can see what you mean in your photos. Maybe it's just shadow? Hard to say.

- Janna