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Gopher rockfish

Gopher rockfish

Taxobox
name = Gopher rockfish


image_width = 250px
image_caption = At the Monterey Bay Aquarium
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Actinopterygii
ordo = Scorpaeniformes
familia = Sebastidae
genus = "Sebastes"
species = "S. carnatus"
binomial = "Sebastes carnatus"
binomial_authority = Jordan & Gilbert, 1880

The gopher rockfish ("Sebastes carnatus") is a rockfish of the Pacific coast, primarily off California.

Gopher rockfish have a generally mottled appearance, with dark areas generally olive to reddish brown, and the lighter areas being white or maybe pinkish. The upper part of the back almost always has three light patches extending into the dorsal fins, and the lighter areas become more extensive ventrally. They range in size up to about 40 cm.

They are known from as far north as Cape Blanco in Oregon, down to Punta San Roque in southern Baja California. They can be found in the intertidal zone, but most occur at depths of 12–80 meters, living in crevices and holes during the day, and ranging further abroad at night to feed on benthic crustacea, cephalopods, and some types of fishes. They are territorial, claiming an area of 10–12 square meters.

Gophers are extremely closely related to the black-and-yellow rockfish "S. chrysomelas"; "S. chrysomelas" is darker brown with yellow patches, and tends to prefer shallower water. The two types are apparently genetically indistinguishable, and may represent a single species with two color morphs.

References

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* Milton S. Love, Mary Yoklavich, Lyman K. Thorsteinson, (2002), "The Rockfishes of the Northeast Pacific", University of California Press, pp. 140–143
*


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