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Grunt Sculpin
Rhamphocottus richardsoni
To 3¼” (8 cm) long. Unique short, stout body with pointed snout and small eye. Tan to orange with dark bands. “Hops” along the bottom. In empty barnacle shells, in sponges or rocky crevices, 6–540’ (2–165 m) deep.
Rockfishes (Bony Fishes)
Many of these common and popular commercial and sport fishes are long-lived, but reef populations are easily overfished.
Quillback Rockfish
Sebastes maliger
To 2’ (60 cm) long. Dark brown to black, mottled with yellow and orange. High, spiny dorsal fin with yellow streak in forward region. On rocky reefs, surface to 480’ (144 m) deep.
Copper Rockfish
Sebastes caurinus
To 22” (55 cm) long. Olive-brown to copper with yellow and white blotches. Dark bands radiate from the eye. On rocky reefs, 30–600’ (9–180 m) deep.
Yelloweye Rockfish
Sebastes ruberrimus
To 3’ (90 cm) long. Orange-red to red-yellow body. Adults (A) have brilliant yellow eye on rough head. Juveniles (B) have dark eyes and 2 white bands along the sides that fade in time. Individuals are long-term residents at specific sites, 60–1,800’ (18–540 m) deep.
China Rockfish
Sebastes nebulosus
To 17” (42.5 cm) long. Black body with broad yellow stripe and patches. Solitary species, resident on reefs, 13–422’ (3.9–127 m) deep.
Tiger Rockfish
Sebastes nigrocinctus
To 2’ (60 cm) long. Pink to red with 5 vertical dark bands. Solitary and territorial, 3–900’ (1–270 m) deep.
Black Rockfish
Sebastes melanops
To 25” (62.5 cm) long. Light to dark grey with dark mottling along upper back and a pale band below lateral line. In schools, often with other rockfish, surface to 1,200’ (360 m) deep.
Yellowtail Rockfish
Sebastes flavidus
To 26” (65 cm) long. Olive green to green-brown with pale spots along back, yellow-green on fins. In schools, surface to 1,800’ (540 m) deep.
Canary Rockfish
Sebastes pinniger
To 30” (75 cm) long. Orange body (A) with white to grey stripe along lateral line, 3 bright stripes across head. Juvenile (B) has a prominent dark spot at rear of spiny dorsal fin. In schools, rocky reefs, 60–1,200’ (18–360 m) deep.
Lingcod, Greenlings (Bony Fishes)
Lingcod
Ophiodon elongatus
To 5’ (1.5 m) long. Weight to 105 lb. (47 kg). Large head, mouth and teeth. Long, tapered body with dark blotches, mottled grey, brown or green. Male guards egg masses in shallows. In kelp beds and on rocky reefs to 6,600’(1,980 m) deep.
Kelp Greenling
Hexagrammos decagrammos
To 2’ (60 cm) long. Male (A) brown-olive with bright blue spots, female (B) light brown, golden to blue, with rows of round orange-brown spots. Small, bushy appendage above each eye. Male guards pale blue to mauve egg mass. In kelp beds and rocky areas, intertidal to 150’ (45 m) deep.
Painted Greenling
Oxylebius pictus
To 10” (25 cm) long. Long, pointed head with 2 pairs of bushy appendages. Dark vertical bars cross body and dorsal fin. Male guards orange egg mass. Sometimes associate with white-spotted anemone (p. 72). On rocky reefs to 162’ (49 m) deep.
Perches (Bony Fishes)
Shiner Perch
Cymatogaster aggregata
To 6” (15 cm) long. Small, silvery oval body, compressed, with large scales. Strong dark bars along sides, interrupted by 3 yellow vertical bars. In schools around pilings and floats and in kelp beds, surface to 480’ (144 m) deep.
Striped Perch
Embiotica lateralis
To 15” (37.5 cm) long. Copper-coloured with about 15 iridescent blue horizontal stripes below lateral line. Common, solitary or in schools, near surface to 70’ (21 m) deep.
Pile Perch
Rhacochilus vacca
To 17” (42.5 cm) long. Silvery, usually with dark, indistinct vertical bars. Black spot behind mouth. Deeply forked tail fin. Around floats, pilings and reefs, surface
