Post by Infinity Blade on Jun 30, 2020 22:47:02 GMT 5
Utah Lake Sculpin: Cottus echinatus
From Miller et al. (1989) down below ([7] in reference list down below).
Temporal range: Holocene (extinct c. 1930s CE)
Scientific classification:
Life
Domain: Eukaryota
(unranked): Unikonta
(unranked): Opisthokonta
(unranked): Holozoa
(unranked): Filozoa
Kingdom: Animalia
Subkingdom: Eumetazoa
(unranked): Bilateria
Clade: Nephrozoa
Superphylum: Deuterostomia
Phylum: Chordata
Clade: Olfactores
Clade: Craniata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Infraphylum: Gnathostomata
Clade: Eugnathostomata
Clade: Teleostomi
Clade: Euteleostomi
Class: Actinopterygii
(unranked): Actinopteri
Subclass: Neopterygii
Infraclass: Teleostei
(unranked): Acanthomorpha
Superorder: Acanthopterygii
Order: Scorpaeniformes
Suborder: Cottoidei
Superfamily: Cottoidea
Family: Cottidae
Genus: Cottus
Species: †C. echinatus
The Utah Lake sculpin was a species of freshwater sculpin endemic to Utah Lake.[1][2]
Evolution:
Fossils of C. extensus (the Bear Lake sculpin, which is still extant, but vulnerable[3]) have been found in the Late Pleistocene deposits of a paleolake named Lake Bonneville. Utah Lake is a freshwater remnant of Lake Bonneville, and it has been suggested that C. echinatus of Utah Lake is descended from C. extensus of Lake Bonneville. However, this is a purely geographical conjecture based on the absence of C. echinatus from Lake Bonneville.[4]
Description:
The Utah Lake sculpin was similar to the Bear Lake sculpin, except that it had prickles on its breast and belly, a larger head, a slightly less slender body, and usually had 4 preopercular spines.[5]
Habitat and biology:
Like other sculpins, this was a benthic species, spending most of its time at the rocky bottom of Utah Lake. It would have lived from the near shore to deep waters of the Lake.[1][5] It probably mainly fed upon invertebrates.[1]
Extinction:
The Utah Lake sculpin has not been seen since 1928.[1][2][6] An increase in salinity and pollution by developing agriculture caused a major decline in Utah Lake’s water from the late 19th to early 20th centuries. Additionally, extreme drought and low water conditions during the 1930s caused the waters of Utah Lake to become extremely shallow.[1][7] The shallowness of the water allowed a large portion of the lake to freeze, and sculpins in the remaining unfrozen parts of the lake became overcrowded.[1] These two factors — overcrowding from drought and poor water quality from agriculture — seem to have both resulted in the extinction of the Utah Lake sculpin.[1][7]
Specimens and subsequent study:
Seven specimens of this species are known, collected from 1880 to 1928. When it was originally described in 1963, its continued survival was under question on the grounds of the low levels of the lake from 1932 to 1935. Collectors have been unable to find the species since.[8]
A photograph of what appear to be two deceased specimens. © @ Craig Ellsworth->
References:
[1] dwrcdc.nr.utah.gov/rsgis2/Search/Display.asp?FlNm=cottechi
[2] www.iucnredlist.org/species/5438/15361621
[3] www.iucnredlist.org/species/5439/15364219
[4] Smith, G. R., Stokes, W. L., & Horn, K. F. (1968). Some late Pleistocene fishes of Lake Bonneville. Copeia, 807-816.
[5] Page, L. M., & Burr, B. M. (2011). Peterson field guide to freshwater fishes of North America north of Mexico. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. p. 249.
[6] Burkhead, N. M. (2012). Extinction rates in North American freshwater fishes, 1900–2010. BioScience, 62(9), 798-808.
[7] Miller, R. R., Williams, J. D., & Williams, J. E. (1989). Extinctions of North American fishes during the past century. Fisheries, 14(6), 22-38.
[8] Sigler, J. W. (2016). Fishes of the Great Basin: a natural history. University of Nevada Press.
From Miller et al. (1989) down below ([7] in reference list down below).
Temporal range: Holocene (extinct c. 1930s CE)
Scientific classification:
Life
Domain: Eukaryota
(unranked): Unikonta
(unranked): Opisthokonta
(unranked): Holozoa
(unranked): Filozoa
Kingdom: Animalia
Subkingdom: Eumetazoa
(unranked): Bilateria
Clade: Nephrozoa
Superphylum: Deuterostomia
Phylum: Chordata
Clade: Olfactores
Clade: Craniata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Infraphylum: Gnathostomata
Clade: Eugnathostomata
Clade: Teleostomi
Clade: Euteleostomi
Class: Actinopterygii
(unranked): Actinopteri
Subclass: Neopterygii
Infraclass: Teleostei
(unranked): Acanthomorpha
Superorder: Acanthopterygii
Order: Scorpaeniformes
Suborder: Cottoidei
Superfamily: Cottoidea
Family: Cottidae
Genus: Cottus
Species: †C. echinatus
The Utah Lake sculpin was a species of freshwater sculpin endemic to Utah Lake.[1][2]
Evolution:
Fossils of C. extensus (the Bear Lake sculpin, which is still extant, but vulnerable[3]) have been found in the Late Pleistocene deposits of a paleolake named Lake Bonneville. Utah Lake is a freshwater remnant of Lake Bonneville, and it has been suggested that C. echinatus of Utah Lake is descended from C. extensus of Lake Bonneville. However, this is a purely geographical conjecture based on the absence of C. echinatus from Lake Bonneville.[4]
Description:
The Utah Lake sculpin was similar to the Bear Lake sculpin, except that it had prickles on its breast and belly, a larger head, a slightly less slender body, and usually had 4 preopercular spines.[5]
Habitat and biology:
Like other sculpins, this was a benthic species, spending most of its time at the rocky bottom of Utah Lake. It would have lived from the near shore to deep waters of the Lake.[1][5] It probably mainly fed upon invertebrates.[1]
Extinction:
The Utah Lake sculpin has not been seen since 1928.[1][2][6] An increase in salinity and pollution by developing agriculture caused a major decline in Utah Lake’s water from the late 19th to early 20th centuries. Additionally, extreme drought and low water conditions during the 1930s caused the waters of Utah Lake to become extremely shallow.[1][7] The shallowness of the water allowed a large portion of the lake to freeze, and sculpins in the remaining unfrozen parts of the lake became overcrowded.[1] These two factors — overcrowding from drought and poor water quality from agriculture — seem to have both resulted in the extinction of the Utah Lake sculpin.[1][7]
Specimens and subsequent study:
Seven specimens of this species are known, collected from 1880 to 1928. When it was originally described in 1963, its continued survival was under question on the grounds of the low levels of the lake from 1932 to 1935. Collectors have been unable to find the species since.[8]
A photograph of what appear to be two deceased specimens. © @ Craig Ellsworth->
References:
[1] dwrcdc.nr.utah.gov/rsgis2/Search/Display.asp?FlNm=cottechi
[2] www.iucnredlist.org/species/5438/15361621
[3] www.iucnredlist.org/species/5439/15364219
[4] Smith, G. R., Stokes, W. L., & Horn, K. F. (1968). Some late Pleistocene fishes of Lake Bonneville. Copeia, 807-816.
[5] Page, L. M., & Burr, B. M. (2011). Peterson field guide to freshwater fishes of North America north of Mexico. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. p. 249.
[6] Burkhead, N. M. (2012). Extinction rates in North American freshwater fishes, 1900–2010. BioScience, 62(9), 798-808.
[7] Miller, R. R., Williams, J. D., & Williams, J. E. (1989). Extinctions of North American fishes during the past century. Fisheries, 14(6), 22-38.
[8] Sigler, J. W. (2016). Fishes of the Great Basin: a natural history. University of Nevada Press.
