Description
Sebastes maliger
(Quillback Rockfish)
(Other common names: Gopher Rock Cod, Speckled Rockfish, Rock Cod)
Figure 36.3
DescriptionLength: 61 cm.
Mouth: large, terminal; upper jaw projects to approximately mid-orbit; no teeth patches at top of lower jaw; symphyseal knob weak.
Body: nuchals subocular; and coronals absent; nasal, preocular, postocular, tympanic, and parietal present and strong; tympanic can sometimes be weak; preopercular spines short; opercular spines moderate; cleithral and supracleithral spines present, sometimes embedded; dorsal fin is high with an incised spinous region; caudal fin rounded.
Color: brown with yellow-tan areas on the head and back; pale below; orange and brown spots on lower anterior region; fins dark; yellow in the dorsal fin spinous region.
Depth: up to 275 m; shallower in northern waters.
Habitat: demersal over rocky substrate, reefs, and inlets; solitary.
Season: ovoviparious; larvae in spring; juveniles found in summer in tideline.
Diet: crustaceans (e.g., shrimps, crabs), worms, forage fish (e.g., herring, sand lance).
Predators: not determined.
Distribution: central California to Alaska.
Scale DescriptionRelative Scale Size: small to moderate.
Position of Scales on Body: below lateral line canal in 39-45 rows (Hart, 1973).
Overall Shape: the scales are generally square to rectangular.
Focus and Circuli: the focus abuts the edge of the posterior field, along the edge of ctenii growth, and approximately one-fourth of the total scale length from the outside edge of the posterior margin. The circuli are compact and continuous between the lateral and anterior fields (except broken by radii).
Radii: numbers are variable and not diagnostic. Radii are only in the anterior field. The outer edge of the anterior field is straight to slightly convex and is slightly to moderately scalloped.
