Aurora Rockfish (Sebastes aurora)

Aurora Rockfish Sebastes aurora

Aurora Rockfish
Sebastes aurora

Commonly caught by commercial trawlers.

Description: Rose-red to pink dorsal surface, silvery on sides and ventral surface. Small lobes projecting from anterior part of upper jaw. Long second anal fin spine.

Size: To 41 cm (16 inches)

Range/Habitat: Amphitrite Point, Vancouver Island, British Columbia, to Cedros Island, Baja California. 68 to 420 fathoms. Most common 200 to 300 fathoms.

Black Rockfish Sebastes melanops

Black Rockfish
Sebastes melanops

Commonly caught by recreational fishers.
Recreational Harvest Chart

Description: Dark gray to black becoming lighter ventrally. Some light gray mottling on back. Weak head spines and symphyseal knob.

Size: To 63 cm (25 inches)

Range/Habitat: Amchitka and Kodiak islands, Alaska, to Baja California. Depth to 200 fm.

Blackgill Rockfish Sebastes melanostomus

Blackgill Rockfish
Sebastes melanostomus

Commonly caught by commercial trawlers and longliners.

Description: Dark red body, black on rear edge of gill cover. Black on skin above upper jaw, black mouth.

Size: To 61 cm (24 inches)

Range/Habitat: Washington to Cedros Island, Baja California. Deepwater species, soft bottom. 68 to 420 fm.

Blue Rockfish Sebastes mystinus

Blue Rockfish
Sebastes mystinus

Commonly caught by recreational fishers
Recreational Harvest Chart

Description: Blue or black body color with vague striping on forehead. Lighter ventrally. Very deep bodied with large pectoral fins. Anal fin slants.

Size: To 53 cm (21 inches)

Range/Habitat:
Sitka, Alaska to northern Baja California. Schooling rockfish, off bottom over reefs and pinnacles. Surface to 300 fm.

Bocaccio Sebastes paucispinis

Bocaccio
Sebastes paucispinis

Caught both commercially and recreationally.
Recreational Harvest Chart

Description: Olive orange to burnt orange or brown. Lower jaw is long, projects past upper jaw. A large rockfish.

Size: To 91 cm (36 inches)

Range/Habitat: Stepovak Bay, Alaska Peninsula, to Punta Blanca, Baja California. 0 to 260 fm.

Brown rockfish Sebastes auriculatus

Brown rockfish
Sebastes auriculatus

Usually caught by recreational fishers.

Description: Light brown, mottled with one or two shades of darker brown, vague dark bars dorsally, dark brown blotch on upper part of gill cover. Pinkish fins and on underside of throat or lower jaw. Interorbital space flat to barely convex, symphyseal knob weak or absent.

Size: To 56 cm (22 inches)

Range/Habitat: Prince William Sound, Alaska, to central Baja California. Surface to 70 fm. In shallow water where there is abundant kelp.

Canary Rockfish Sebastes pinniger

Canary Rockfish
Sebastes pinniger

Caught commercially and recreationally.
Recreational Harvest Chart

Description: Bright yellow to orange mottled on a gray background gives body appearance of orange color. Fins orange, 3 orange stripes across head, gray along lateral line. Scales on lower jaw smooth.

Size: To 76 cm (30 inches)

Range/Habitat: Gulf of Alaska south of Shelikof Strait, Alaska, to Cape Colnett, Baja California. 0 to 232 fm (usually 50 to 100 fm) over hard bottom.

China Rockfish Sebastes nebulosus

China Rockfish
Sebastes nebulosus

Usually caught recreationally.
Recreational Harvest Chart

Description: Blue or black body color, mottled with yellow, some white below. Yellow stripe starting on dorsal fin at about the third spine and running into and along lateral line. Head spines thick, parietal ridges very high and thick. Mouth small.

Size: To 45 cm (18 inches)

Range/Habitat: Kechemak Bay, Cook Inlet, Alaska, to San Miguel Island, California. 2 to 70 fm, more common in waters less than 50 fm on rocky reefs. Often found in crevices.

Copper Rockfish Sebastes caurinus

Copper Rockfish
Sebastes caurinus

Usually caught recreationally.
Recreational Harvest Chart

Description: Variable coloration, olive brown to copper with pink or yellow blotches, white on sides and belly. Dorsal fins dark copper brown to black with some white. Rear two thirds of lateral line is light.

Size: To 58 cm (23 inches)

Range/Habitat: Gulf of Alaska to Baja California. Shallow waters to 100 fm. Common in rocky, shallow water areas

Darkblotched Rockfish Sebastes crameri

Darkblotched Rockfish
Sebastes crameri

Commonly caught by commercial trawlers.

Description: Deep bodied, pinkish with 4 or 5 dark patches on back (3 under spinous dorsal fin, 1 under soft dorsal fin, 1 under caudal peduncle). Second anal fin spine shorter than third.

Size: To 58 cm (23 inches)

Range/Habitat: Bering Sea to Santa Catalina Island, California. 14 to 328 fm.

Greenstriped Rockfish Sebastes elongatus

Greenstriped Rockfish
Sebastes elongatus

Commonly caught by commercial trawlers. Occasionally caught by recreational fishers.

Description: Pinkish yellow with 3 or 4 horizontal green stripes on body, light ventrally. Green streaks on caudal fin membranes, slender body.

Size: To 39 cm (15 inches)

Range/Habitat: Chirikof and Montague Islands, Alaska, to Cedros Island, Baja California. 14 to 232 fm.

Longspine Thornyhead Sebastolobus altivelis

Longspine Thornyhead
Sebastolobus altivelis

Usually caught by commercial trawlers.

Description: Red with some black on fins. Spiny ridge on sub-orbital bone. Third dorsal spine longest. Gill chamber mostly dark.

Size: To 39 cm (15 inches)

Range/Habitat: Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands to Baja California. Deepwater species, 110 to 960 fm.

Pacific Ocean Perch Sebastes alutus

Pacific Ocean Perch
Sebastes alutus

Commonly caught by commercial trawlers.

Description: Bright to light red, dark markings dorsally, may have some dark stippling on sides and dark blotch on caudal peduncle. Lower jaw with prominent forward directed symphyseal knob.

Size: To 51 cm (20 inches)

Range/Habitat: Honshu, Japan, into Bering Sea, along Aleutian Islands, and south to La Jolla, California. Schooling fish, abundant offshore. Surface to 451 fm (most occur in 90 to 160 fm).

Puget Sound Rockfish Sebastes emphaeus

Puget Sound Rockfish
Sebastes emphaeus

Usually caught by recreational fishers.

Description: Reddish brown to copper with dark blotches, fading to whitish ventrally. Red mouth, light fins, anal fin rounded. Very small rockfish.

Size: To 18 cm (7 inches)

Range/Habitat: Prince William Sound, Alaska, to Punta Gorda, California. Schools over rocky reefs, 0 to 200 fm.

Quillback Rockfish Sebastes maliger

Quillback Rockfish
Sebastes maliger

Usually caught by recreational fishers.
Recreational Harvest Chart

Description: Brown mottled with yellow and orange. Deeply incised membranes on spinous dorsal fin. Strong head spines. Orange or brown mottling ventrally on head and anterior part of body. First dorsal fin with yellow streak.

Size: To 61 cm (24 inches) Average length in southeast Alaska commercial fishery is 36 cm.

Range/Habitat: Kodiak Island and Prince William Sound, Alaska, to Point Sur, California. Rocky bottom and reefs from 0 to 150 fm.

Redbanded Rockfish Sebastes babcocki

Redbanded Rockfish
Sebastes babcocki

Caught by commercial trawlers, longliners, and recreational fishers.

Description: Light pink to red with four darker red vertical bars on body (one on caudal peduncle). Bars more prominent on smaller fish. First bar extends from front of first dorsal fin to base of pectoral fin.

Size: To 64 cm (25 inches)

Range/Habitat: Bering Sea and Amchitka Island, Alaska, to San Diego, California. Deepwater species caught in 50 to 342 fm.

Redstripe Rockfish Sebastes proriger

Redstripe Rockfish
Sebastes proriger

Caught by commercial trawlers and occasionally by recreational fishers.

Description: Light red mottled with olive on back, lower sides flushed with yellow. Light red stripe along lateral line. Darkened lips, red fins with some light green or yellow. Very shallow notch in dorsal fin.

Size: To 61 cm (24 inches)

Range/Habitat: Bering Sea and Amchitka Island, Alaska, to San Diego, California. 7 to 232 fm (most common at 100 to 250 fm).

Rosethorn Rockfish Sebastes helvomaculatus

Rosethorn Rockfish
Sebastes helvomaculatus

Caught by commercial trawlers and occasionally by recreational fishers.

Description: Orange or yellow with greenish mottling dorsally, lighter ventrally. Four to 5 squarish white spots tinged or bordered with light pink on back. A smaller rockfish.

Size: To 41 cm (16 inches)

Range/Habitat: Kodiak Island, Alaska, to Guadalupe Island, Baja California. 40 to 300 fm.

Rougheye Rockfish Sebastes aleutianus

Rougheye Rockfish
Sebastes aleutianus

Commonly caught by commercial longliners and trawlers.

Description: Red rockfish with dark blotches, coloration variable particularly in smaller specimens. Red fins, may have black edges. Identifiable by the 2 to 10 spines below the eye on rim of orbit.

Size: To 97 cm (38 inches)

Range/Habitat: Japan into Bering Sea, throughout Aleutian Islands, and south to San Diego, California. Deepwater, 14 to 487 fm, on bottom.

Sharpchin Rockfish Sebastes zacentrus

Sharpchin Rockfish
Sebastes zacentrus

Usually caught by commercial longliners and trawlers.

Description: Pink to yellowish pink on sides, light below. 5 to 6 vague dark markings on back, v-shaped dusky marking from eye to gill cover. Second anal fin spine longer than third. Suborbital bone may form shelf below nostrils.

Size: To 39 cm (15 inches)

Range/Habitat: Semisopochnoi Island, Aleutian Islands, to San Diego, California. 14 to 260 fm, soft bottom.

Shortbelly Rockfish Sebastes jordani

Shortbelly Rockfish
Sebastes jordani

Occasionally caught by commercial trawlers.

Description: Slender, elongate body, Vent halfway between anal fin and pelvic fin. Greenish pink dorsally, fading to light ventrally.

Size: To 32 cm (13 inches)

Range/Habitat: La Perouse Bank, Vancouver Island, British Columbia, to Benito Island, Baja California. Has been reported from Granite Island (off Kenai Peninsula), Alaska. Large schools, offshore and off bottom, 0 to 191 fm.

Shortraker Rockfish Sebastes borealis

Shortraker Rockfish
Sebastes borealis

Caught by commercial longliners and trawlers.

Description: Reddish pink to orange red. Mouth red and may have black blotches. Adults large.

Size: To 108 cm (43 inches)

Range/Habitat: Southeast Kamchatka Peninsula, Russia, in Berring Sea, and along Aleutian Islands to Point Conception, California. Deepwater species, 100 to 478 fm, on bottom.

Shortspine Thornyhead Sebastolobus alascanus

Shortspine Thornyhead
Sebastolobus alascanus

Caught by commercial longliners and trawlers.

Description: Bright red with some black on fins. 1 or 2 black dots on spinous dorsal fin. Large head and elongate body. Strong spiny ridge on head. Fifth dorsal spine longest. Gill chamber mostly pale.

Size: To 76 cm (30 inches)

Range/Habitat: Sea of Okhotsk, Bering Sea, and Aleutian Islands to Cedros Island, Baja California. Deepwater species, 10 to 833 fm.

Silvergray Rockfish Sebastes brevispinis

Silvergray Rockfish
Sebastes brevispinis

Occasionally caught commercially and recreationally.

Description: Greenish to silver gray, white tinged with orange or pink ventrally. Lips dusky, lower jaw long and protruding beyond upper jaw.

Size: To 71 cm (28 inches)

Range/Habitat: Bering Sea to Baja California. Surface to 205 fm.

Splitnose Rockfish Sebastes diploproa

Splitnose Rockfish
Sebastes diploproa

Caught by commercial longliners and trawlers.

Description: Red rockfish, silver ventrally. Toothed knob at front of each upper jaw, deep notch between jaws.

Size:
To 46 cm (18 inches)

Range/Habitat: Alaska Peninsula and Prince William Sound, Alaska, to Cedros Island, Baja California. Offshore, surface to 437 fm (most often at 100 to 250 fm)

Tiger Rockfish Sebastes nigrocinctus

Tiger Rockfish
Sebastes nigrocinctus

Occasionally caught commercially and recreationally.
Recreational Harvest Chart

Description: Light pink to red with 5 dark vertical stripes on body. Stripes may be red to black in color. Head spines thick, parietal ridges very thick and coarse.

Size: To 61 cm (24 inches)

Range/Habitat: Kodiak Island and Prince William Sound, Alaska, to Point Buchon, California. Rocky reefs and boulder fields, 5 to 150 fm.

Vermillion Rockfish Sebastes miniatus

Vermillion Rockfish
Sebastes miniatus

Occasionally caught by recreational fishers.
Recreational Harvest Chart

Description: Dark red, sides mottled with gray. Red mouth and fins, fins often edged with black. Three obscure orange stripes radiating from each eye. Deep caudal peduncle. Rough, scaly lower jaw.

Size: To 76 cm (30 inches)

Range/Habitat: Cape Bartolome, southeast Alaska, to San Benito Islands, Baja California. 8 to 150 fm (most occur in 100 to 150 fm).

Widow Rockfish Sebastes entomelas

Widow Rockfish
Sebastes entomelas

Commonly caught by commercial trawlers and recreational fishers.

Description: Goldish brown to dusky, lighter ventrally. Membranes of fins dark (lighter on spinous dorsal). Caudal peduncle is narrow. Anal fin has a strong posterior slant. Rounded (convex) interorbital space, sloped.

Size: To 59 cm (23 inches)

Range/Habitat: Middle Albatross Bank off Kodiak Island, Alaska, to Todos Santos Bay, Baja California. Schooling near surface to 300 fm.

Yelloweye Rockfish Sebastes ruberrimus

Yelloweye Rockfish
Sebastes ruberrimus

Caught by commercial longliners, trawlers, and recreational fishers.
Recreational Harvest Chart

Description: Orange red to orange yellow, bright yellow eye, fins may be black at tips. Raspy ridges above eye. Adults usually have light band on lateral line (line may be white). Juveniles have two light bands, one on lateral line and one shorter line below lateral line. A large rockfish.

Size: To 91 cm (36 inches)

Range/Habitat: Umnak Island and Prince William Sound, Alaska, to Ensenada, Baja California. Rocky reefs and boulder fields, 8 to 300 fm.

Yellowmouth Rockfish Sebastes reedi

Yellowmouth Rockfish
Sebastes reedi

Occasionally caught by commercial fishermen.

Description: Red mixed with yellow to orange (mixed with black in smaller fish), dark blotched. Mouth pinkish white with yellow and black blotches. Pinkish lateral line, 3 vague dark bands across head. Long lower jaw with moderate, wide symphyseal knob.

Size: To 58 cm (23 inches)

Range/Habitat: Northern Gulf of Alaska to Crescent City, California. 75 to 200 fm (usually 150 to 200 fm) over rough bottom.

Yellowtail Rockfish Sebastes flavidus

Yellowtail Rockfish
Sebastes flavidus

Commonly caught by commercial and recreational fishermen.
Recreational Harvest Chart

Description: Olive green to greenish brown with some light mottling dorsally. Light ventrally. Fins yellowish green, ventral fins often tinged in orange. Head spines weak.

Size: To 66 cm (26 inches)

Range/Habitat: Unalaska Island, Alaska, to San Diego, California. Schooling rockfish, surface to 300 fm.