As its name implies, the coastrange sculpin is a coastal species. In southern B.C., it rarely penetrates more than 150 km inland. Reproductive adults in minor coastal drainages migrate downstream and spawn just above estuaries. The larvae over-winter in brackish water before moving upstream. On Vancouver Island and, presumably on the mainland, the larvae of populations associated with large lakes are swept down into the lakes and live limnetically for an unknown length of time before migrating back into streams. The “dwarf” limnetic (?) adults in Cultus Lake are probably derived from this life history. It is not known if the lake and stream populations in Cultus Lake represent separate gene pools or if some limnetic larvae stay behind in the lake. Morphology, however, suggests that the lake form is neotenic. Although, this species does not occur above the Fraser Canyon, there is a disjunct population associated with Anderson and Seton Lakes. On the central coast (e.g., Skeena system), coastrange sculpins penetrate over 500 km inland (Morrison Lake).
Source: Information provided by Don McPhail for E-Fauna BC.
North America: Bristol Bay and Aleutian Islands, Alaska to northern California, USA. Isolated populations in lower Kobuk River (Alaska), Cultus Lake (British Columbia, Canada), and Lake Washington (USA) (Ref. 27547).
Source:
FishBase. Page, L.M. and B.M. Burr 1991 A field guide to freshwater fishes of North America north of Mexico. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston. 432 p.
