mmoore
Registered: January 2000
Posts: 25
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Benthic-dwelling sculpin collected via SCUBA in the southern basin of Lake Baikal, Russia. Due to cold water temperatures, the sculpin was so sluggish that it was caught by hand. Two-thirds of the animal species in Lake Baikal are endemic with sculpins being among the animal groups that have exhibited the most adaptive radiation. Of the 29 species of sculpins inhabiting the lake, 27 are endemic. (For more information, see: Kozhova, O.M. & L.R. Izmesteva. 1998. Lake Baikal: Evolution and Biodiversity. Backhuys Publishers. Leiden, The Netherlands. ). The sculpin shown here was collected by staff of the Limnological Institute, Irkutsk, Russia in August, 2001. Photo taken during the Lake Baikal course (Wellesley College).
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