TOPIC:

Hello everyone! 
When we cleaned the fish we caught I opened the stomach of the only coho and something in its stomach and this is what it was. (Please see pictures) 

I have no idea what kind of fish this is? The head is kind of round with its eye very close together. 

Im hoping that Ben Dickenson will see this and reply so we all know what it is.

I've never seen anything like it in my almost 66 years!     

Sculpin I would think.

Round goby 
 

A lot has changed out there in 66 years Trent.  Both of the guesses are legit possibilities. 

It's either a sculpin or goby, as both replies have mentioned. The key difference is that gobies have a fused, singular pelvic fin, whereas the pelvic fins in sculpin are split into 2 fins. I think it is a sculpin but it is a bit tough to tell with 100% certainty that there are 2 pelvic fins in the middle picture. 

Sculpin are native, but diminished due to ecosystem changes, primarily mussels/gobies. Gobies are very abundant now and lots of fish - especially smallmouth, lake trout, browns, whitefish, and perch - feed on them. 

Coho will occasionally eat them in the spring when the nearshore shallow water where gobies live is cold enough for coho to inhabit



 

Thank you for the information! I'll look these up so I have a better understanding! Thanks again!