Focus your attention long enough on a tidepool, and you're likely to see a Tidepool Sculpin suddenly dart past. Sculpins are big-headed fish with tapered bodies and large front fins. Of Puget Sound's many sculpin species, the Tidepool is among the smallest and most widespread. At its biggest, this fish is 3½ inches long.

Tidepools, depressions in rock that hold water when the tide is out, are home to many creatures. This is a challenging environment. Direct sun heats the water, and the returning tide suddenly cools it. Evaporation makes the pool saltier, and rain dilutes it. In these fast changing conditions Tidepool Sculpins do just fine.

Creatures living in tidepools are vulnerable to predators. The Tidepool Sculpin's color and pattern, mottled with brown, green, and black help it disappear into the background. And in twenty minutes, this little fish can change its appearance to closely match its immediate surroundings.

The sculpin is a predator, lying still, then suddenly darting out and opening its big mouth wide to gulp even smaller fish, shrimp, or crabs. When high tide reaches the sculpin's pool, it wanders away some distance looking for food. Then as the tide recedes, the sculpin returns to its home pool by smell.

Tidepools are homes to many plants and animals. They are fragile environments, easily damaged by people wading or reaching into them with bare hands whose oils can affect the water's chemistry. Treat a tidepool like an aquarium. Observe the creatures living their lives in this little world but don't join them!