Description
Sebastes caurinus
(Copper Rockfish)
(Other common names: Rockcod, Bass, Whitebelly Rockfish, Chucklehead)
Figure 34.16
DescriptionLength: 58 cm.
Mouth: large, terminal; lower jaw projected but not into dorsal profile; upper jaw extends to the posterior edge of orbit; no teeth on lower jaw.
Body: supraocular, coronal, and nutchal spines absent; nasal, preocular, postocular, tympanic, and parietal thick; preocular spines blunt and triangular directed backwards; ocular spines blunt and short; cleithral and supracleithral spines well developed; spine at lower edge of gill covering; caudal fin rounded; slight curve in upper profile.
Color: dark olive brown with copper to pink; two-thirds of lateral line is white; two yellow light bands radiating from posterior of eye; occassional yellow cheeks and orange chin; midside has light blotch; fins all copper-black.
Depth: 10-183 m.
Habitat: rocky and sandy substrate; also found protected bays and inlets amongst kelp beds; juveniles aggregate in shallow weedy areas.
Season: ovoviparous; spring.
Diet: worms, molluscs, and crustaceans.
Predators: not determined.
Distribution: Baja, California to Alaska.
Scale DescriptionRelative Scale Size: large.
Position of Scales on Body: in diagonal rows below the lateral line canal 39-45 (Hart, 1973).
Overall Shape: the scales are generally square, but differential elongation can make them look more rectangular and in some cases, give a bulbous appearance to the lateral fields, and also a convex shape to the anterior field.
Focus and Circuli: the focus abuts the edge of the posterior field, along the edge of ctenii growth. Approximately one-fourth of the total scale length is from the outside edge of the posterior margin. The posterior field is short. The circuli are continuous between the lateral and anterior fields (except broken by radii).
Radii: numbers are variable and not diagnostic. Present in the anterior field only. The outer edge of the anterior field can be straight to convex and is slightly to moderately scalloped.
