Longspined bullhead
(Taurulus bubalis)
General data
The long-spined bullhead (Taurulus bubalis), also known as the long-spined sea-scorpion, and the long-spined scorpion fish is a coastal fish of the sculpin family Cottidae, inhabiting marine waters of Europe.
The longspined bullhead is a small fish with a thick, tapering body and a large head and resembles the shorthorn sculpin (Myoxocephalus scorpius). It has two spines on each side on the gill cover, the front one extending further than the rear one. The skin is not clad in scales. There is a row of bony tubercles running along the flank on the lateral line and there are backward sloping bony tubercles on the crown of the head. It has a variety of colours ranging from shades of brown or olive green, with cream blotches and four dark, vertical bands. The belly is pale bluish-green but becomes suffused with red in males in the breeding season.
Eastern Atlantic: Iceland, the Shetlands, from Murmansk southward to Portugal, also Baltic Sea northward to Gulf of Finland and northern Mediterranean coasts eastward to Gulf of Genoa.
Max length: 25 cm SL
