blob sculpin
Psychrolutes phrictus Stein & Bond, 1978
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Open encyclopedia reference
The blob fish (Psychrolutes phrictus) or blob sculpin is a species of deep-sea fish of the family Psychrolutidae. It feeds mainly on crustaceans, molluscs, and sea pens.
It lives off the continental shelves in very deep water (839–2800 m) in the North Pacific Ocean by the coasts of Japan, the Bering Sea, and California. When the female lays eggs the adult fish guard the nest.
Wikipedia contributors, Blob sculpin; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T02:56:54.001686+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Psychrolutes phrictus Stein & Bond, 1978
- Name authority
- Stein & Bond, 1978
- Common name
- blob sculpin
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Teleostei
- Order
- Perciformes
- Family
- Psychrolutidae
- Genus
- Psychrolutes
- Extinction status
- Not supplied by this source
Source habitat flags: Marine: yes · Freshwater: no · Terrestrial: no. These do not form a complete habitat description.
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- gigaclassActinopterygii
- superclassActinopteri
- classTeleostei
- orderPerciformes
- suborderCottoidei
- familyPsychrolutidae Günther, 1861
- genusPsychrolutes Günther, 1861
- speciesPsychrolutes phrictus Stein & Bond, 1978
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Psychrolutes. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| blobfishPsychrolutes marcidus (McCulloch, 1926) | PsychrolutidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Psychrolutes sio Nelson, 1980 | PsychrolutidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Psychrolutes subspinosus (Jensen, 1902) | PsychrolutidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Psychrolutes inermis (Vaillant, 1888) | PsychrolutidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Psychrolutes macrocephalus (Gilchrist, 1904) | PsychrolutidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Psychrolutes marmoratus (Gill, 1889) | PsychrolutidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Psychrolutes microporos Nelson, 1995 | PsychrolutidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| tadpole sculpinPsychrolutes paradoxus Günther, 1861 | PsychrolutidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| soft sculpinPsychrolutes sigalutes (Jordan & Starks, 1895) | PsychrolutidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- Stein, D. L., & Bond, C. E. (1978). A new deep-sea fish from the eastern North Pacific Psychrolutes phrictus (Pisces: Cottidae [Psychrolutinae]). Contributions in Science (Los Angeles), 296: 1–9. https://doi.org/10.5962/p.208177 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:4PR5W. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.