| This is a family composed of about 70
genera and 300 species of freshwater, brackish, and marine fishes that
belong to the Order Scorpaeniformes. The family name derives from
the Greek kottos, the name of a fish. They are characterized
by a body that often gives the appearance of being naked, commonly bearing
scales or prickles. Their eyes are usually large and located high on
the head. They have one lateral line with one spine on pelvic fin
and 2-5 soft rays. Their anal fin lacks spines. There is no
swim bladder in adults. The maximum length ever measured for members
of this family is that of 780 mm in Scorpaenichthys marmoratus.
They are found in the Northern Hemisphere and near New Zealand. |
|
Two species of this family have been
reported for caves: Cottus carolinae and Cottus bairdi-cognatus.
The first one has been reported spawning just inside the entrance of
a Kentucky cave (Craddock 1965) and numerous other caves from Illinois,
Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia (Burr
et al. 2001) and the second one from a cave in
Pennsylvania (Espinasa and Jeffery, 2003). |