""*wjQ c',ttl'jf~tttgj'tgjqtL~*tl tl!~;I$ "" 'i'<l<~»>'.:>l~+jek>A /q<></>~~i ~<g>iI' i~g . .tt't*t tt5 it j j <" t'ttj:,, 4giy, kgt;~ 'fc s 0 8 ' 0 4» 5 w $~0 4 8 4 0>~i 4~' -"4':iW~'4X" C $!j~ l 4<'"'i*""g?." g~ji." t, '2 PREFACE Theprimary purpose of thisguide is to simplifythe identification of rockfishfound along the Alaska coast. It is intendedfor those whodo not have the experience or the time to usea keyfor rockfish identification. This guide will beof useto fishermen,fish processors,and those involved in fisheriesmanagement. It will alsobe of helpto diverswho do not wish to collectfish for later identification. Themost important part of thispublication is thecolor photographs. Many species, for example Sebastes nebulosus, can be identi- fiedby color alone. Although color is a veryimportant characteristic, manyspecies arevery similar toothers and the diagrams and descriptionsmust be usedto be certainwhich species you have. Whilethe guide is intended primarily for Alaskan waters, we have included all rockfishspecies found off Alaska and British Colum- biato make it useful over a widerarea, It alsoincludes almost all rockfish found in Washington andOregon waters. The species are arrangedalphabetically byscientific name rather than by color or some other physical characteristic. The1995 edition has changes to improve accuracyof head spine counts and range/habitat. Wehope this guide will beof practical use to the fishing industry. We also hope divers and recreational fishermen will find greater enjoymentin theirsport by beingable to identifythe rockfishthey see or catch. Donald Kramer Victoria O' Connell Thereare about 68 species ofrockfishes inthe genus Sebastes andtwo in the genus Sebastolobus foundin the waters along the coastof North America. Thirty-two Sebastes and both Sebastolobus occur in Alaskan waters. Most of these species are important to thecommercial fishing industry or thesport fishery, or both.Only a fewspecies are too small to beuseful to manas food. Ivlanagementofthe fisheries for these species depends onaccurate data on both commercial and sport landings. There are too many speciesin commercial landings to market each separately. However, there is enough difference in keeping quality during chilling andfrozen storage among the various species to necessitatecombining under one market name only those species that are of like quality.Thus it is important that fishermen, fishprocessors, andfisheries managers beable to differentiate thevarious species with a reasonabledegree of accuracy. Thespecies have not been grouped bya physicalcharacteristic suchas strength ofhead spines orprominence ofsymphyseal knob, Thususe of the guide will necessitate paging through and selecting allthe possibilities forthe specimen tobe identified, then deter- miningthe correct one by using the distinguishing characteristics given in thediagrams, Wehave not included a detailed key for the rockfishes. Keys can be found in "Fishes ofAlaska" by C.W. Mecklenburg etal., "Pacific Fishesof Canada"by j.S. Hart, and "Cuide to theCoastal Marine Fishes of California"by D.j.Ivliller and R.N. Lea. INTRODUCTION HeadStructures and Spinesof Rockfish 8 nuchal spin 7 parietalspin 6 coronalspin 5 tympanicsp 4 postoculars 3 supraocular 2 preocularsp 1 nasalspine raisedpatch on lower jaw Throughoutbook; preopercularspines p edge ! Headspines marked with parentheses areusually present but may be absent. of operculum [ JHead spines marked with brackets areusually absent but may be present. A Cenerajized Rockflsh V II Description: Red rockfish with clark blotches, coloration variable particularly in smaller specimens. Red fins, may have black edges. Identifia.ble by the 2 to 10 spines below the eye on rim of orbit. Size: To 97 cm 8 inches!, Range/Wabitat: Japan into Bering Sea, throughout Aleutian Islands, and south to San Diego, California, Deepwater, 14 to 478 fm, on bottom. Remarks: Usually found in offshore waters. RougheyeRockfIsh blacktip rockfish! Sebastes aleutian Us 'a lijI iIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII/IIIIJIIIIIIIIJIIII/IiIIIIIIjlll IIII/IIIIJIIIlfllllil!II/IIIIJIIII IIIIJIIIjllI/IIIJIIIIJ IIIIIII IIIjIIIIJII IIIII/I llllllljIII/lllljIIIIIIIIJIIII[ll IJIIIIjlIIlil II/IIIIIllljlliljiil IIIIJIIIIIIIIJIIII[l IIJIIII[lliliilIIIJIIIIJIIII/IIIIJIIIIIIIIJIIIljIIIIJQIIIII Ijlllll lllljllIIJIIIIt llljliiI[IIIIJ III/IIIIJIIII/ IIIIJIIItlljllilfl IIJIIIIIt III 9 2G t R a 4 5 8 T s 9 3G t 2 g 4 5 6 7 8 9 4p 1 I 8 4 $ 8 7 8 8 SG t tt tt tt II tt II tt It II It It II II II II It Description: Brightto light red, dark markingsdorsaliy, may have some dark stippling on sides and dark blotch on caudal peduncle. I ower jaw with prominenttorwarcl dire< teel symphyseal knob. Size: To 51 cm 0 inches!, Range/Habitat: Honshu,Japan, into BeringSea, along Aleu- tian Islands, and south to La !olla, Ca!ifornia. Schooling fish, abundant offshore. Surtace to 451 tm most occur in 90 to 160 fm!. Remarks: Very important commercially in the waters off tihe northwest Pacific, landecJby domestic and foreign trawiers. Stocks suffered severe population decline due to overharvesting. Pacific Ocean Perch pop, longjaw rockfish! Sebastes alutus tt tt tt tf tt tt tt ff ff II If If tf If If ff Description: Light brown, mottled with one nr two shacles of datkerbrown, vague dark barsdorsally, dark brown blotch on upperpart of gill cover. Pinkish fins and on undersicle of throat or lower jaw. Interorbitalspace flat to barely convex, symphyseal knob weak or absent. Size: fo 5b cm 2 inchesj, Range/Habitat;Prince William Sound, Alaska, to centralBala California. Surface to 70 tm. In shallow water where there is abundantkelp. Remarks: Abundantin shallowwater in PugetSound. Uncommon north of Prince of Wales Island, southeastAlaska. Ixtot important con>mer- c ia ly.I Brown Rockfish bolina! Sebastes auriculatus Description: Light pink to red with four dariker red verti- cal barson body one on caudal peduncle!. Bars more prominent on smaller fish. First bar extends trom front of first dorsal fin to base of pectoral fin. Size: To 64 c m 5 inches!. Range/Wabitat: Bering Sea and Amchitka Island, Alaska, to San Diego, California, Deepwater species, caught in 50 to 342 fm. Remarks: Coloration similar to S. rubrivinctus which does not occur north of California>. Redbanded Rockfish bandit,barber pole! Sebastes babcocki 9 lt II It lf tI lt lIll IJ 3 Description: Reddishpink to orange red. Mouth red and mayhave black blotches. Acluits large. Size; To 108 cm 3 inches!. Range/Habitat: SoutheastKamchatka Peninsula, Russia, in Bering Sea, and along Aleutian lsl*nrls to PointConception, California. Deepwater spe- cies, 100 to 478 fm, on bottom. Remarks: Poreson lower jaw very large. Similar to S. «leutianuswhich has2 to 10 spinesbelow eye rather than 0 to 1 for S. borealis, Shortraker Rockfish buoy keg! Sebastesborealis 11 Photoby DonaldE. Krarner,Alaska ivtarroe Advisory Program u tt a It a u a Description: Greenishto silver gray,white tinged with or- angeor pink ventrally.Lips dusky, lower jaw long and protrudingbeyond upper jaw. Size: To 71 cm 8 inches!. Range/Habitat: Bering Sea lo Baja California. Surface to 205 fn1, Remarks: Very similar to S. paucispinis.S. brevispinis has 17 or 18 pectoral fin rays, 7 or rarely 8 anal fin rays,and 33 to 36 total gill rakers. The numbers for S. paucispinis are 14 to 16, 8 to 10, and 27 to 32. Symphyseal knob is more prominent in silvergray. SilvergrayRockfish shortspinerockfish, rock salmon! Sebastesbrevispinis l3 Description; Variablecoloration, olive brown to copper with pink or yellow blotches,white on sides andbelly. Dorsal I'ins clark coppe~ brown to black with some white. Rear two thircls of lateral line is light. Size: To 5 cnt 3 inches!. In southeastAlaska usualarlult size rangeis 35 to 45 cm, Range/Habitat: Sulf of Alaska to B<tjaCalifornia, Shallow wa ersto I 00fm. Commonin rocky,shallow water areas. Remarks; A darkerreddish phase from California ntay be a separatespecies. Copper Rockfish SebastescaUri nus 15 Description: At least two color variations. First is small, uniformly dark or dusky in c.olor. Seconcl is a larger, greenish brown t'ish, lighter ventra lly, fins tinged in pink or orange, with a symphy- seal knob present. Size: To 83 cm 1 inches!, Range/Habitat: Bering Sea and Aleutian lslancls to lohnstone Strait, British Columbia. Surtace to 287 fm, usually in schools. Trawl catches usually in 88 to 100 fm, Remarks: The dark dusky is usually in shallow water. The light dusky, occurring in deeper water, is a target ot' the trawl fishery and is landed in- cidentally in longline catches. The two color variations ot S. ciliatus appear to be separate species, but more taxonomic work is needed on specimens from intermediate depths. Dusky Rockfish brown bomber! Sebastes ciliatus 17 !illil>><>j~~~~lHIIIIIIJ>>«!~>></>rrrll«r IIIIIIIIIIIII/rrrl IIII/IIIIll>iP>>grrrrrIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIllil I II/IIIIIIII/IIII IIIIIIII IIII/IrllilriiilIIIiilli/IIllilIII/IIIIillrljlrllilIII/IIII IIIIJIIIIIIIIrirIIrrlrrrr/Ill frill/IIIIiIIII/III!IIIII IIII/II II/IIII/IIIIIIIIIIIIII/II I/IllliIIII/IIIIIII IIIIIIIIIIIIII[lilllIIII IIIIiIIII/IIII/IIII/llll lllliIIII « 4 5 rr T rr 9 40 I rr 8 4 5 6 7 8 I} 50 t rr $ i 5 6 T 8 9 60 r 9 9 4 s 8 7 8 8 70 r « If lf ff ff ff ft If ff ff ff lf ff ff ff ff ff Description: Deep bodied, pinkish with 4 or 5 dark pat- ches on back under spinous dorsal fin, 1 under soft dorsal tin, 1 under caudal pe- dunclei. Secondanal fin spine shorter than third. Size: To 50 cm 3 inchesh Range/Habitat: Bering Sea to Sant<r Catalina lslancl, .alifor-