BAY PIPEFISH (Syngnathus leptorhynchus)
Habitat: Bays and estuaries from Alaska to
Baja California
Size: 30 cm (12 in)
Position in food web: Carnivorous: Feeds on
small crustaceans. Prey for sea birds and larger
fish.
Interesting facts:
Pipefish don’t have scales but instead they
have bone like rings that surround their
body
The body shape and coloration of a pipefish
help it to camouflage in the swaying
eelgrass
The male pipefish carry and brood the eggs
on the underside of the body. A female can deposit approximately 200 eggs and they
hatch after about two weeks.
Relatives: seahorses and other pipefish
BLACK SURFPERCH (Embiotoca jacksoni)
Habitat: Various habitats to depths of 24 m
from Central California to Baja California
Size: 38 cm (15 in)
Position in food web: Carnivorous: Feeds
on small amphipods, crabs, mysid shrimp,
brittle stars, and worms. Prey for
cormorants, harbor seals, and other fish.
Interesting facts:
The black surfperch gives live birth and
can have up to 30 young at one time
Black surfperch feed using a technique
called ―winnowing‖. The surfperch will
suck in a mouthful of kelp or sediment, then using special muscles in its throat, it can
separate and swallow food items, and spit out undesired particles.
They live to be about 9 years old
Relatives: shiner surfperch, striped surfperch, and other bony fish
BLACKSMITH (Chromis punctipinnis)
Habitat: Rocky reefs and kelp forests to
depths of 50 m from Monterey California to
Baja California
Size: 30 cm (12 in)
Position in food web: Carnivorous: Feeds on
zooplankton such as copepods and eggs. Prey
for fish, seals, sea lions, sharks, and sea birds.
Interesting facts:
Males guard nest sites, cleaning and
guarding eggs until they hatch
Juvenile blacksmith are bicolored with a
bluish-gray front and an copper-orange
colored rear
At night blacksmith can be found resting in cave crevices
Relatives: Garibaldi, damselfish, and other bony fish
CABEZON (Scorpaenichthys marmoratus)
Habitat: Rocky reefs and kelp
forests to depths of 30 m from
Alaska to Baja California.
Size: 30 in (2.5 ft)
Position in food web:
Carnivorous: Feeds on
crustaceans, octopuses,
abalone, and fish. Prey for
larger fish, sea otters, birds,
and humans.
Interesting facts:
Cabezon eggs are
poisonous to mammals,
birds and humans. This can
possibly explain why they
can lay eggs in exposed tidepool locations with little predation.
Cabezons have NO scales, but instead are covered with smooth, mottle-colored skin
The cabezon is important sport fish and despite their blue flesh, there does remain a
market for this species. The blue coloration disappears when cooked and might be
caused by the copper-based compounds in shellfish they feed upon.
Relatives: staghorn sculpin, red Irish ****, and wooly sculpin
CALIFORNIA MORAY EEL (Gymnothorax mordax)
Habitat: Rocky reefs to 40m from
Point Conception to Baja California
Size: 1.8m (6 ft)
Position in food web: Carnivorous:
Feeds on fish, crustaceans, and
octopus. Prey for sharks and humans.
Interesting facts:
California moray eels have three
rows of thin sharp hook-shaped
teeth that are used to grab onto
prey and prevent it from escaping
These eels are near sighted and
rely heavily on their acute sense of
smell to detect prey
It is thought that CA moray eels
can live to be about 30 years old
Scientists believe that morays that live in Southern California do not reproduce here
due to the cold water temperature, but rather they hatch off Baja California and as
larvae drift north
Relatives: bony fish and other moray eels
CALIFORNIA SHEEPHEAD (Semicossyphus pulcher)
Habitat: Rocky reefs and kelp forests
from Monterey Bay to the Gulf of
California
Size: 1m (3.3 ft)
Position in food web: Carnivorous:
Feeds on clams, barnacles, crabs, sea
urchins, worms and octopus. Prey for
larger sharks, giant sea bass, mammals
and humans.
Interesting facts:
All sheephead are born female.
They live in congregations of females with one dominant male. When the male dies,
the largest female will undergo metamorphosis into a male. This occurrence is
known as ―protogynous hermaphroditism.‖
Female sheephead reach sexual maturity at about four years of age and undergo a sex
change around eight years of age. Some slow growing females may not make the
change into a male. Development into a male occurs between spawning seasons
(spring and summer) and usually takes less than a year.
Female sheephead are pink with a white ventral side. Male sheephead are much
larger with a black head and tail, a pink middle, a white chin and a pronounced hump
on the head. Juveniles are salmon colored with at least one white stripe along the side
Sheephead are active during the day, but sleep in caves at night and can sometimes be
found surrounding themselves with a mucous bubble
Relatives: wrasses and senoritas
C-O TURBOT (Pleuronichthys coenosus)
Habitat: Sandy bottoms to 340 m from Alaska
to Baja California.
Size: 34 cm (14 in)
Position in food web: Carnivorous: Feeds on
worms, small crustaceans, and small fish. Prey
for larger fish, sharks, rays, and dolphins.
Interesting facts:
The C-O turbot is named for the dark spot
and crescent marking on its tail that looks
like a C with an O inside it
The C-O turbot is not born flat. It hatches
with the same body plan as a typical fish.
Once the turbot settles on the substrate one
eye migrates so that both eyes are on the same side of its head making it easier to
blend in with the sandy bottom environment.
Relatives: English sole, diamond turbot, and halibut
GARIBALDI (Hypsypops rubicundus)
Habitat: Rocky reefs and kelp forests to
28 m from Central California to Baja
California
Size: 35 cm (14 in) adults and 15 cm (6 in)
juveniles
Position in food web: Carnivorous: Feeds
on sponges, bryozoans, crabs, and small
anemones. Prey for larger fish, sharks,
moray eels, birds, and sea lions.
Interesting facts:
Garibaldi are extremely territorial,
protecting areas of the reef against each
other and other intruder
Males tend to nests, removing
everything except for red algae. Females will swim around observing males and nest
and when she selects one, she enters the male’s territory and lays her eggs. Males
then take over guarded the nests
Juvenile garibaldi are covered with bright blue markings
Relatives: blacksmith and damselfish
GIANT KELPFISH (Heterostichus rostratus)
Habitat: Kelp forests from
British Columbia to Baja
California
Size: 38 cm (15 in)
Position in food web:
Carnivorous: Feeds on small
fish, crustaceans, and
amphipods. Prey for larger
fish and cormorants.
Interesting facts:
These fish are shaped like
the blades of kelp, and can
be found trying to blend in
with their surroundings, swaying with the kelp and angling their body in the same
direction
The coloration of the giant kelp fish varies from golden yellow to reddish purple and
varies with the color of the kelp in which they are hiding. Juveniles can change color
fairly easily, but adults have a harder time, with males having the hardest time of all.
Relatives: island kelpfish and sarcastic fringehead
KELP BASS (Paralabrax clathratus)
Habitat: Rocky reefs and kelp
forests to 60 m from Washington
to Baja California.
Size: 72 cm (28.5 in)
Position in food web:
Carnivorous: Feeds on fish,
squid, crustaceans, and octopus.
Prey for larger fish, sharks, sea
lions, and humans.
Interesting facts:
Kelp bass are also known as
calico bass due to their calico
coloration.
Kelp bass are one of the most important recreational species in the party vessel
fishery of Southern California
Kelp bass can live up to at least 33 years
The largest recorded movement of a kelp bass was from Southern California to Baja
California—approximately 282 miles!
Relatives: groupers, spotted basses and barred sand basses