• Question from:Jason Terris

Hi, my wife and I found this skull on a beach in the Bay of Fundy on May 27. Wondering if you could tell me what it is. Let me know if you need anymore info. Thanks! -Jason

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  • University of Glasgow and British Geological Survey, Edinburgh
  • Posts: 239

It looks like it has enormous eye orbits and short body. Is it an angler fish/lantern fish or some other deep-sea dweller? Not my taxa!

"Hope is a duty from which palaeontologists are exempt."
David Quammen
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  • Mount Aloysius College, Pennsylvania
  • Posts: 43

Hi Jason

That is a sculpin of some sort (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cottidae). Sculpins are typically shallow-water fish that live on the bottom of the ocean, although some do inhabit freshwater as well.

Cheers,

John

Edit: I'm pretty sure it's either a four-horn or short-horn sculpin in the gensu Myoxocephalus.

Last edited by John Whitlock (29th May 2012 16:27:43)