Cottus baileyi Robins, 1961
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 black sculpin (Cottus baileyi) is a species of freshwater ray-finned fish belonging to the family Cottidae, the typical sculpins. It is endemic to the United States. Its range includes the extreme upper Clinch and Holston River systems in western Virginia and just into northeastern Tennessee. It reaches a maximum length of 8 cm (3.1 in).
The black sculpin was first formally described in 1961 by C. Richard Robins, with its type locality given as "Middle fork of Holston River, 6 miles east-northeast of Marion, Smyth County, Virginia". Its specific name honors the ichthyologist Reeve Maclaren Bailey, recognising his contribution to the study of American freshwater fishes.
Wikipedia contributors, Black sculpin; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T19:25:28.017090+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Cottus baileyi Robins, 1961
- Name authority
- Robins, 1961
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Teleostei
- Order
- Perciformes
- Family
- Cottidae
- Genus
- Cottus
- Extinction status
- Not supplied by this source
Source habitat flags: Marine: no · Freshwater: yes · 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
- familyCottidae Bonaparte, 1831
- genusCottus Linnaeus, 1758
- speciesCottus baileyi Robins, 1961
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Cottus. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Cottus pollux Günther, 1873 | CottidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| shorthead sculpinCottus confusus Bailey & Bond, 1963 | CottidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Cottus chattahoochee Neely, Williams & Mayden, 2007 | CottidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Cottus ohmiensis Watanabe, 1960 | CottidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| coastrange sculpinCottus aleuticus Gilbert, 1896 | CottidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| prickly sculpinCottus asper Richardson, 1836 | CottidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| mottled sculpinCottus bairdii Girard, 1850 | CottidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Cottus beldingii Eigenmann & Eigenmann, 1891 | CottidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Cottus bendirei (Bean, 1881) | CottidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Cottus czerskii Berg, 1913 | CottidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Cottus dzungaricus Kottelat, 2006 | CottidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Cottus gratzianowi Sideleva, Naseka & Zhidkov, 2015 | CottidaeChordata | 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.
- Robins, C. R. (1961). Two new cottid fishes from the fresh waters of eastern United States. Copeia 1961, 3. https://doi.org/10.2307/1439805 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:YYFR. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.