ROCKFISH: genus Sebastes

Fish in this genus, locally called rockfish, are of special interest to researchers due to their importance in the commercial fishing industry. In recent years, rockfish have contributed more to Newport’s economy than salmon have. Females are ovoviviparous, giving live birth. Rockfish are a long lived species.

black rockfish: Sebastes melanops

  • Range is from the Aleutian Islands to Southern California
  • Wide-ranging habitats, often in schools
  • Commonly caught when salmon trolling
  • Young are food for other fishes, mammals, and birds

canary rockfish: Sebastes pinniger

  • Range is from SE Alaska to Baja, California
  • Found at rocky bottoms and up to about 900ft
  • Feed on small fish and krill
  • Often caught on hook and lines

China rockfish: Sebastes nebulosus

  • Solitary rockfish found on shallow rocky shores or reefs usually at depths of about 60-400ft
  • Important commercial species in live fish fishery
  • All rockfish species have internal fertilization and release tiny larvae
  • From the Greek sebastos meaning “magnificent” and the Latin nebulosus meaning “clouded”

copper rockfish: Sebastes caurinus

  • Abundant in shallow water and in kelp beds and bays among rocks
  • Occasionally found resting on the bottom, propped up by its fins
  • Adult females give live birth during April and May
  • Non-schooling as adults, but schools of tiny juveniles can be found among the eelgrass and kelp beds during the summer

darkblotched rockfish: Sebastes crameri

  • Range is from Alaska to Southern California
  • Found near soft bottoms and up to 1800ft
  • Females spawn from November to March, they only spawn once per season
  • Too deep for anglers, this fish is caught by trawlers

honeycomb rockfish: Sebastes umbrosus

  • Range is from central California to Baja
  • Found on or near the bottom and up to 390ft
  • Life span is at least 15 years
  • Females spawn from March to July

quillback rockfish: Sebastes maliger

  • Non-schooling rockfish usually found resting on rocky bottoms at moderate depths of about 100-475ft
  • Female Quillbacks usually grow larger than the males
  • Juveniles are frequently found hiding among floating debris in the summer tideline

silvergray rockfish: Sebastes brevispinis

  • Range is from Alaska to Southern California
  • Found up to 1200ft, with a wide-ranging habitat
  • Important commercially from Alaska to Oregon

starry rockfish: Sebastes constellatus

  • Range is from San Francisco, California to Southern Baja
  • Found on deep reefs and up to 900ft
  • Caught by hook and line or gillnets
  • Feed on small fishes, crab, shrimp, and other small invertebrates

tiger rockfish: Sebastes nigrocinctus

  • Range is from SE Alaska to central California
  • Solitary fish, very territorial, will defend area by erecting spiny fins and confronting intruders, including divers
  • Bottom feeder, dining on shrimp, crab, and amphipods.
  • Not a common catch among fishermen due to crevices it inhabits

treefish: Sebastes serriceps

  • Range is from San Francisco to Baja
  • Found in rocky areas up to 150ft
  • Solitary reef-dwelling fish found in caves and crevices
  • Highly territorial fish, which flare their mouths when they meet, exposing the reddish color of their lips to warn off other fish

shortspine thornyhead: Sebastolobus alascanus

  • Range is from the Bering Sea to Northern Baja, California
  • Common on soft bottoms in deep water, found up to 5000ft
  • Juveniles tend to live in shallower water than adults
  • Caught as bycatch in trawling nets

English sole: Pleuronectes vetulus

  • Maximum age of 22 years, young spend their first year in very shallow waters, including bays
  • EPA is studying juveniles in the Yaquina Bay estuary to learn how sediment deposition from logging, dredging, or urbanization affects their growth rates
  • ODFW has conducted extensive tagging off of Newport to study fish movement, and commercial landings are sampled for stock assessment

sand sole: Psettichthys melanostictus

  • Common flatfish in shallow water, often at depths less than 150 feet, near sandy beaches
  • Generally found lying over clean sand near the mouths of bays
  • Excellent eating quality, sometimes taken by sport fishers casting into the surf and commercial trawlers fishing near shore

starry flounder: Platichthys stellatus

  • Range is from Japan to the Bering Sea and south to Santa Barbara, California
  • Found near shore and in estuaries and up to 900ft
  • Important sport fish, but not highly regarded as a food fish

Pacific sand dab: Citharichthys sordidus

  • A left-eye flounder (both eyes on the left side of the head), usually found on soft bottoms at depths of over 50ft
  • Extensive range from the Bering Sea to South Baja
  • A popular food fish, especially in California
  • Researchers are studying metamorphosis (change in form) and early mortality

Pacific herring: Clupea pallasi

  • Schooling fish that was very important to Native American and commercial fisheries, caught for its delicious roe or as a baitfish
  • Available to fisheries when they spawn in in-shore waters, and when eggs form thick mats on algae and rocks
  • 20% of the run, or about 70 metric tons of 3-4 year old fish are landed annually
  • Historically, runs occurred in many bays, but the primary run in Oregon today is in Yaquina Bay

American shad: Alosa sapidissima

  • Schooling fish with a range from Kamchatka, USSR to Alaska and south to N. Baja, California
  • Introduced to California in the 1870’s from the Atlantic
  • Fished in fresh water in summer during spawning
  • Game fish that feeds on minute organisms in the water

jacksmelt: Atherinopsis californiensis

  • Yaquina Bay is the northern end of its range that extends south to Baja, California
  • Caught both commercially or on hook and line by sport fishers
  • Important prey species in the near shore food chain

kelp greenling: Hexagrammos decagrammus

  • Common in sport catches off of rocky coastlines and jetties
  • Males guard egg masses found on rocky areas
  • Valuable fish in commercial live fish fishery

buffalo sculpin: Enophrys bison

  • Range is from Kodiak Island, Alaska to Monterey Bay, California
  • Common in inshore sandy and rocky areas to about 65ft
  • Feed on algae
  • Spawn in late winter/early spring in low intertidal areas, males guard the eggs while fanning them with his pectoral fins

sailfin sculpin: Nautichthys oculofasciatus

  • Range is from the Bering Sea to Southern California
  • Found on rocky bottom areas inshore and up to 360ft
  • This sculpin does well in captivity and is a popular fish for public aquariums
  • This nocturnally active fish is a common site for night divers

tidepool sculpin: Oligocottus maculosus

  • Range is from Los Angeles County shores to Okhotsk Sea, USSR
  • Common in tidepools around sheltered areas
  • Mating season occurs November to May, females deposit clusters of adhesive eggs among barnacles and muscles

cabezon: Scorpaenichthys marmoratus

  • Range is from Central Baja to SE Alaska
  • Found in intertidal areas and up to 250ft
  • Common sculpin for eating, but eggs are highly toxic and will make humans violently ill
  • Feeds on crustaceans and mollusks including abalone

brown Irish lord: Hemilepidotus spinosus

  • Range is from SE Alaska to Southern California
  • Found in subtidal areas of the coast, also intertidal and up to 318ft
  • Motionless and camouflaged, this fish is difficult to find
  • Capture of this fish is rare because commercial fishers seldom deploy gear in shallow and rocky areas

red Irish lord: Hemilepidotus hemilepidotus

  • Range is from Central California to the Bering Sea of Alaska
  • Near rocky shores and intertidal areas
  • Voracious feeder, this fish will eat shrimp, crab, muscles, barnacles, and smaller fishes, usually swallowing completely
  • Spawn in winter when the females deposit large egg masses, which the males guard

Northern clingfish: Gobiesox maeandricus

  • Range is from SE Alaska to Northern Baja, California
  • Found in intertidal rocky areas among algae and kelp beds, up to 26ft
  • Attaches itself to the undersides of rocks, so it is infrequently sighted
  • Low economic value due to small size and hiding habits which make it a very rare catch

chinook salmon: Oncorhynchus tshawytscha

  • Range is from Japan to the Bering Sea and south to San Diego, California
  • Largest of the salmon
  • Found in oceans and coastal streams
  • Spawn in rivers, and then the young go to sea after hatching, they will return to the river to spawn after 4-5 years

steelhead: Oncorhynchus mykiss

  • Range is from Japan to the Bering Sea and south to Baja, California
  • Found in the sea and in coastal streams
  • Important game fish
  • Spawns in fall or winter in streams, adults survive after spawning

sablefish: Anoplopoma fimbria

  • Range is from Japan to the Bering Sea and south to Baja, California
  • Wide-ranging habitat: adults at moderate depths while the young are in shallow waters
  • Important commercial species, fished with trawls and long lines

ocean whitefish: Caulolatilus princeps

  • Range is from Vancouver Island to Peru and the Galapagos Islands
  • Found mostly near offshore reefs up to about 300 ft
  • Rarely found north of central California
  • Important catch in southern California when peak times are during the summer and fall

California sheephead: Semicossyphus pulcher

  • Range is from Monterey Bay, California to Central Baja
  • Found near rocky bottoms in kelp beds and up to 180ft
  • Populations off of southern California have declined due to reduction of kelp beds
  • Often feed on sea urchins, lobsters, mollusks, and crab, this fish uses plates in the rear of the mouth for crushing

black prickleback: Xiphister atropurpureus

  • Range is from Alaska to Baja, California
  • Found in rocky areas and intertidal up to 25ft
  • Feeds mainly on plants
  • After females lay eggs, males guard egg mass

rock prickleback: Xiphister mucosus

  • Range is from Alaska to Southern California
  • Found in rocky areas and up to 60ft
  • Feeds mainly on algae
  • After females lay eggs, males guard egg mass

high cockscomb: Anoplarchus purpurescens

  • Range is from Alaska to Southern California
  • Intertidal and under rocks up to 100f
  • This fish has no commercial value
  • Used for bait when bottom fishing for large rockfish

crescent gunnel: Pholis laeta

  • Range is from Alaska to Northern California
  • Found in tidepools and open water up to 240ft
  • Easily evades capture from commercial gear in the Pacific Northwest fishing industry due to size

penpoint gunnel: Apodicthys flavidus

  • Range is from Alaska to Southern California
  • Found in intertidal areas and tidepools
  • In summer months it lives among seaweed and rocks
  • In winter months it stays near or under rocks

saddleback gunnel: Pholis ornate

  • Range is from Vancouver Island to central California
  • Found near mud bottoms and among seaweed and eelgrass
  • Feeds on small mollusks and crustaceans
  • Males and females guard egg mass

shiner perch: Cymatogaster aggregata

  • Range is from SE Alaska to central Baja
  • Inhabits bays, kelp beds, and tidal zones of coastal streams
  • Can live in depths up to 480ft
  • Feeds mostly on crustaceans

walleye surfperch: Hyperprosopon argenteum

  • Range is from Vancouver Island to Central Baja, very abundant in Southern California waters
  • Found in surf near sandy beaches and near piers
  • Feed on small crustaceans
  • Important commercial and sport fish, one of the most common catches by pier fishermen

wolf eel: Anarrhichthys ocellatus

  • Range is from Japan to Alaska and south to Southern California
  • Found on bottom among rocks in subtidal areas, often in dens
  • Feeds on hard-shelled invertebrates and fish
  • Eggs layed in rocky area and guarded by both sexes