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Sebastes melanops Girard, 1856

Black rockfish
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Sebastes melanops   AquaMaps   Data sources: GBIF OBIS
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Image of Sebastes melanops (Black rockfish)
Sebastes melanops
Picture by Lonhart, S.I.

Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Teleostei (teleosts) > Perciformes/Scorpaenoidei (Scorpionfishes) > Sebastidae (Rockfishes, rockcods and thornyheads) > Sebastinae
Etymology: Sebastes: Greek, sebastes = august, venerable (Ref. 45335);  melanops: From the Greek melas and ops meaning 'black' and 'face' (Ref. 27436).
More on author: Girard.

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Marine; reef-associated; depth range 0 - 366 m (Ref. 6885), usually 183 - 274 m (Ref. 6885). Temperate; 62°N - 22°N, 170°E - 110°W

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Point map | Introductions | Faunafri

Eastern Pacific: Amchitka Island, Aleutian Islands, Alaska to Paradise Cove, Baja California, Mexico.

Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm 40.3, range 30 - 42 cm
Max length : 63.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 27437); max. published weight: 4.8 kg (Ref. 2850); max. reported age: 50 years (Ref. 39247)

Short description Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 13 - 14; Dorsal soft rays (total): 13 - 16; Anal spines: 3; Anal soft rays: 7 - 9; Vertebrae: 26. Head spines weak to very weak - nasals present, preocular and postocular spines usually absent, supraocular, tympanic, coronal, parietal and nuchal spines absent (Ref. 27437). Symphyseal knob very weak or absent (Ref. 27437). Eyes moderately large (Ref. 27437). Anal fin profile rounded or with greater portion slanted posteriorly (Ref. 27437). Posterior margin of caudal fin indented (Ref. 27437). Dark grey to black with light grey mottling dorsally, lighter ventrally (Ref. 27437). Branchiostegal rays: 7 (Ref. 36715).

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Found near rocky reefs in shallow water and in open water over deep banks (Ref. 2850). Adults live both off and on bottom (Ref. 2850). Juveniles are pelagic (Ref. 36715). Form schools (Ref. 2850). Feed on fishes (Ref. 27302). Viviparous, with planktonic larvae (Ref. 36715). Young are important prey species for other fishes, marine mammals and birds. Excellent food fish (Ref. 27436).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturities | Reproduction | Spawnings | Egg(s) | Fecundities | Larvae

Viviparous (Ref. 36715, 34817).

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator | Collaborators

Eschmeyer, W.N., E.S. Herald and H. Hammann, 1983. A field guide to Pacific coast fishes of North America. Boston (MA, USA): Houghton Mifflin Company. xii+336 p. (Ref. 2850)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435)

  Not Evaluated 

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Harmless





Human uses

Fisheries: minor commercial; gamefish: yes; aquarium: public aquariums
FAO - Fisheries: landings; Publication: search | FishSource | Sea Around Us

More information

Trophic ecology
Food items
Diet compositions
Food consumptions
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Ecology
Ecology
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Max. ages / sizes
Length-weight rel.
Length-length rel.
Length-frequencies
Mass conversions
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Life cycle
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Maturities
Fecundities
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Visual pigment(s)
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Toxicities (LC50s)
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Genetics
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References

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Summary page | Point data | Common names | Photos

Internet sources

AFORO (otoliths) | Aquatic Commons | BHL | Cloffa | BOLDSystems | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes: genus, species | DiscoverLife | ECOTOX | FAO - Fisheries: landings; Publication: search | Faunafri | Fishipedia | Fishtrace | GenBank: genome, nucleotide | GloBI | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | MitoFish | OceanAdapt | Otolith Atlas of Taiwan Fishes | Public aquariums | PubMed | Reef Life Survey | Socotra Atlas | Tree of Life | Wikipedia: Go, Search | World Records Freshwater Fishing | Zoobank | Zoological Record

Estimates based on models

Preferred temperature (Ref. 123201): 3.8 - 7.8, mean 5.5 °C (based on 52 cells).
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804):  PD50 = 0.5000   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.01000 (0.00499 - 0.02004), b=3.09 (2.92 - 3.26), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this Genus-body shape (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level (Ref. 69278):  4.4   ±0.0 se; based on diet studies.
Resilience (Ref. 120179):  Low, minimum population doubling time 4.5 - 14 years (tm=7.5; K=0.14; tmax=50).
Prior r = 0.18, 95% CL = 0.12 - 0.27, Based on 5 full stock assessments.
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  High vulnerability (64 of 100).
Climate Vulnerability (Ref. 125649):  Moderate vulnerability (37 of 100).
Price category (Ref. 80766):   Medium.
Nutrients (Ref. 124155):  Calcium = 6.07 [2.24, 17.66] mg/100g; Iron = 0.114 [0.045, 0.266] mg/100g; Protein = 18.9 [17.8, 20.2] %; Omega3 = 0.774 [0.291, 2.159] g/100g; Selenium = 25.3 [9.1, 74.1] μg/100g; VitaminA = 96.4 [29.4, 326.0] μg/100g; Zinc = 0.322 [0.164, 0.589] mg/100g (wet weight); based on nutrient studies.