Grunge Sculpin? No. Grunt Sculpin

One Saturday morning I noticed aquarist Kylie and mammologist Katie gather around one of the small exhibits watching one of the fish in it. Being curious I asked what fish they were looking at. What they said was Grunt Sculpin but what I heard at first was “Grunge” Sculpin. When I took a closer look at the fish I thought to myself that it does look a little grungy in a hipster sort of way. Later Katie and Kylie corrected me on the name of the fish. I guess two decades of sea lions barking in my ear had affected my hearing a bit.

With their unusual proportions Grunt Sculpins look more bug-like than fish like. Their long snout allow for some comical expression in a cartoon-ish sort of way. They don’t swim very well so they tend crawl along on their spiky-looking pectoral fins.

An interesting note about the Grunt sculpin is that a female will encourage the male into a cave, crevice, or empty shell. She’ll then lay over a hundred eggs while closely guarding her captive male until he fertilizes the eggs. She then swims off and leaves the male behind as the primary nest guarder. The female may occasionally return to the nest to take over guard duties.

The Grunt Sculpin is a really cool fish! I’m glad that Katie and Kylie pointed them out to me.

Check out the video of the Grunt Sculpin.