The Bullhead is a small benthic freshwater fish. The species shown to be present in Britain, Cottus perifretum, has suffered a history of misrecognition. Evarard and Pickett describe the natural history, ecology and taxonomy of the Bullhead in Britain and highlight the consequent problems of its continued misidentification.
To the many of us who dabble in streams and the margins of lakes across England and Wales, the Bullhead Cottus gobio s.l is a familiar sight. A previous article in British Wildlife described the biology and conservation of this species (Perrow et al. 2006), and a short refresher on its ecology is given below.