[2] It was first described in 1875 by the Norwegian zoologist Robert Collett, curator of the Natural History Museum at the University of Oslo.

Like other members of its family, the polar sculpin has a large head, a short tapering body and a small tail.

In the western Atlantic it is found from New Jersey in the United States northward to the Gulf of Saint Lawrence in Canada and Greenland.

[5] The polar sculpin is a demersal fish and feeds on various invertebrates that live on the seabed including polychaete worms, amphipods, mysid shrimps, sea spiders and other crustaceans.

[1][5] The life history of this fish is little known; females have been caught containing 124 to 220 nearly ripe eggs, each measuring up to 4.5 mm (0.2 in) in diameter.