Alaska fourhorn sculpin

The Alaska Fourhorn Sculpin is a fish found in both saltwater and freshwater environments, classified within the family Cottidae, the sculpins. Known scientifically as <em>Myoxocephalus quadricornis</em>, this species reaches a maximum recorded length of approximately 60 cm and a maximum weight of around 0.26 kg. It inhabits neritic coastal zones and estuaries, with a depth range spanning 0 to 100 metres. The fourhorn sculpin is a cold-water species distributed across the Arctic and subarctic regions of the North Atlantic and North Pacific, including coastal Alaska, Canada, Greenland, Scandinavia, and northern Russia. It is one of the few sculpins that transitions between marine and brackish or freshwater environments, being found in both coastal seas and large, cold freshwater lakes in post-glacial regions of northern Europe and North America. These relict freshwater populations are remnants of ancient marine incursions following the last glacial period. <em>Myoxocephalus quadricornis</em> is a benthic predator, feeding on crustaceans, fish eggs, small fish, and invertebrates on the seafloor and in estuarine shallows. Its four bony protuberances above the head, from which its common name derives, are a distinctive morphological feature. Details of geographic range for this species remain limited in the ichthyological literature beyond its circumpolar Arctic and subarctic distribution.