Jordania zonope
A small, uncommon sculpin found on cold British Columbia dives, usually spotted resting on rock or gravel in water below 12C.
A slim, elongated body around 10cm long, mottled in shades of brown and tan that blend into rocky substrate. The standout feature is the long, sail-like dorsal fin with extended rays, taller and more drawn-out than most small sculpins on the same reef. It tends to prop itself on fins rather than swim openly, so look at rock crevices and gravel patches rather than mid-water.
Most divers find it perched motionless on rock, gravel or shell debris rather than swimming in open water, relying on its camouflage to go unnoticed. It's logged as uncommon at most sites where it turns up, so a slow, careful eye scanning the substrate on a wall or boulder field is more productive than searching mid-water.
Its unusually long dorsal fin rays set it apart from other small, bottom-dwelling sculpins sharing the same rocky habitat, making it one of the more distinctive small fish to pick out once you know what to look for.
There isn't enough monthly sighting data to point to a season, and its temperature niche of roughly 9 to 12C is fairly stable year-round in BC's cold water, so it's reasonably treated as a year-round find for divers working these sites.
This is a cold-water Pacific Northwest species, and the vast majority of logged sightings come from British Columbia, Canada, with a single confirmed site across the border in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. Divers looking for it should focus on BC's rocky, current-swept sites rather than tropical or subtropical destinations.
Mapping where Longfin Sculpin is logged…
Almost all logged sightings are from British Columbia, Canada, making it the reliable region for this species. A smaller number of sightings come from the Pacific Northwest region of the United States.
There's no clear seasonal pattern in the sighting data, and its preferred water temperature of about 9 to 12C holds fairly steady year-round in BC, so it can be looked for on any dive in the region.
Look for a small, mottled brown fish around 10cm long resting on rock or gravel rather than swimming freely. Its long, tall dorsal fin rays are the clearest giveaway compared to other small sculpins nearby.
They're a small species, typically reaching around 10cm in length, so they're easy to miss unless you're scanning the substrate closely.
No, they pose no threat to divers. They're small, sedentary bottom-dwellers that rely on camouflage rather than any defensive behaviour toward divers.
Site and sighting data is aggregated from diver logs, iNaturalist and GBIF. For taxonomy and conservation status:
Blacktip Grouper
2,734 sites
