Copper rockfish

Copper rockfish
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Subphylum:	Vertebrata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Order:	Scorpaeniformes
Suborder:	Scorpaenoidei
Family:	Sebastidae
Genus:	Sebastes
Species:	S. caurinus
Binomial name
Sebastes caurinus J. Richardson, 1844

The copper rockfish (also known as the copper seaperch), Sebastes caurinus, is a fish of the Sebastidae family (rockfish, rockcod and thornyheads).

It is a relatively common rockfish of the Pacific coast. It is very widespread in its distribution, known from the very northern reaches of the Gulf of Alaska, to the Pacific side of the Baja California peninsula, north of Guerrero Negro. The copper rockfish is also very widely distributed in depth, from the subtidal shallows of about 10 to 183 metres (33 to 600 ft).^[1]

Copper rockfish are known to be highly variable in coloration, ranging from a dark reddish brown, with pale copper blotching along the sides, to a lighter pinkish brown with a yellowish white mottling on the flanks. At one time it was thought that these variations were two different fish: Sebastes caurinus and Sebastes vexillaris. It is now known however that it is simply one species.

Males are known to mature between three and seven years, while females mature between four and eight years. Generally the larger a female is, the more young she will bear. Copper Rockfish are a viviparous fish giving birth to live young after a gestation period of around 10 months. They are a long-lived fish reaching ages of over forty years old with the oldest known individual being 55 years old. Copper Rockfish are a modest fish reaching a maximum size of 58 centimetres (23 in) TL and a weight of 2,740 grams (6.04 lb).^[1]

Juveniles are almost exclusively found in kelp beds and shallow rocky areas. They begin life feeding primarily on planktonic crustaceans. As they grow they continue to feed on increasingly larger crustaceans such as shrimp and crabs as well as squid and octopus. Smaller fish also make up a large part of their diet. In turn copper rockfish are preyed on by lingcod and cabezone and even salmon. Sea birds and sea mammals also take their toll, and also man. Copper Rockfish are known for the table quality of their flesh and their willingness as a sportfish. The adult copper rockfish is found very close to the bottom often touching. They are almost always associated in and around rocks, and almost never on sand. This rockfish is known to be very faithful to its chosen home and numerous tagging studies have shown that these rockfish travel no more than a mile from their chosen location.

References

1. Froese, Rainer and Pauly, Daniel, eds. (2012). "Sebastes caurinus" in FishBase. December 2012 version.