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Icelinus borealis

species of fish

Specimen drawers, botanical folios and brass scientific instruments under study light
Science and natureInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionMay 20, 2026
Entity authorityQ2624847
Source-derived summary

Icelinus borealis, the northern sculpin or comb sculpin, is a species of fish in the family Cottidae. It can be found in the northeastern Pacific Ocean along the western coast of North America.

Taxonomy

Icelinus borealis was first formally described in 1896 by the American ichthyologist Charles Henry Gilbert with its type locality given as north and south of the Aleutians and from Bristol Bay in Alaska. The specific name borealis means "northern" and is a reference to the description of this species based on a type locality of Alaska.

Description

Icelinus borealis has a very small antler-like uppermost spine on the preoperculum. There are 9 or 10 spines and between 15 and 17 soft rays supporting the dorsal fins, while the anal fin has between 12 and 14 soft rays. The caudal fin is clearly rounded and the pelvic fins are small and often curved. The overall color is dark olive gray or brown on the upper body, paler below. There are dark saddle marks, typically four, across the body and thin dark brown bars on the head and the fins except for the anal fin. In males the margin of the has black spots.

Editorial summary

“Icelinus borealis” enters the record as species of fish. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Icelinus, borealis and species can confirm, complicate or overturn.

Editorial reviewA sound reference starting point where classification, measurement and the date of the underlying evidence remain visible. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1896—that can be checked directly. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. Its strongest next move is a source search built around Icelinus, borealis and species.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

“Icelinus borealis” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Icelinus, borealis and species provides the most credible route into that argument.

Evidence profile

Stable identifiers, scientific names and standards terminology offer the best bridge between this overview and specialist evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated May 20, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q2624847. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1896.

Critical limits

Scientific names, classifications and consensus can change while older terminology persists in catalogues and historical literature. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Check terminology, classification and the date of the cited evidence. Scientific names and technical consensus can change while older records retain historical value.

Best used for
  • Current terminology
  • Classification context
  • Finding cited technical literature
Verify next

Primary datasets, specimen catalogues, standards bodies and the most recent peer-reviewed literature.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Icelinus borealis”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Icelinus borealis primary sources, Icelinus borealis archive and Icelinus research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Icelinus borealis”?
  2. Which observation, specimen, dataset or publication supports the account?
  3. Has classification or technical consensus changed since the cited source?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from Icelinus borealis” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.