Aggregations of blob sculpins have been observed by using a
remotely operated underwater vehicle. The fish were at depths between on the
Gorda Escarpment off the coast of California. They spawn adhesive eggs onto limestone-like rocks in the deep sea, and are known to brood large pinkish eggs in nests, actually lying on the eggs or in contact with them in many instances. The collected eggs measured an impressive 40 mm in length. However, numerous eggs began hatching prematurely upon being sampled, with the emerging juvenile organisms still retaining remnants of the egg casing surrounding them. The eggs were free of sediment which makes it likely the adults were actively fanning them, the first known example of parental care in egg-laying deep sea fishes. The diet of this fish consists mainly of such invertebrates as
sea pens,
crustaceans and
gastropod molluscs. Other items consumed include
cephalopods,
crinoids,
sea cucumbers and fish. Some of the species of fish are
pelagic but researchers think they must have been swimming close to the seabed when consumed because the morphology of the blob sculpin is typical of a bottom dwelling fish. It is the
host of
skin parasites such as the
copepods
Chondracanthus yanezi and
Neobrachiella amphipacifica. ==References==