UC San Diego Library – Scripps Digital Collection

The rockfishes and scorpionfishes (family Scorpaenidae) form one of the most important fish families in the ocean waters of California. At present, in California waters, this family is represented by 49 species in the genus Sebastodes, two in the genus Sebastolobus, and one in the genus Scorpaena.

Not only does this family contain more species than any other marine or freshwater fish family known to inhabit our waters, but most of the species are highly desirable for food. Only a few are too small to be of direct value for human consumption. Even these, however, are utilized as food by other fishes, often by larger species of rockfishes. The pygmy rockfish for example, which barely reaches a size of eight inches, has been taken only from the stomachs of other rockfish.

Various rockfishes were of commercial importance in California as early as 1875 and, as a group, the rockfish have continually increased in importance not only in California but along the Pacific Coast, as well. The California catch, which in 1900 totaled between one and two million pounds, has in recent years risen to an average of between 12 and 13 million pounds annually. The importance of rockfish for human consumption during World War II is reflected in the peak Pacific Coast catch of 60 million pounds in 1945.

For many years the majority of the catch was marketed fresh in the form of fillets. At present, only a small amount of the rockfish catch is marketed in a fresh dressed form, particularly in Southern California, but a sizable proportion is processed as frozen fillets. Preliminary tests on the frozen storage life of the fillets of a few important species indicate definite differences in keeping qualities. In this regard, it is hoped that this publication will be of particular value to both the fisherman and the processor in the proper identification of the numerous rockfish species.

In the filleting process of rockfish, there is a loss of about two-thirds from the round weight. The carcasses that remain after filleting are either reduced to meal for livestock feeds or are mixed with scrap fish some of which consists of small unmarketable species of rockfish. This mixture is ground and frozen for use as mink food or as a supplement in the diet of hatchery-raised trout.

During the past decade, sport fishing in the ocean waters of California has become increasingly important as a source of recreation for our growing population, and rockfish are now one of the most important components of the sport catch. Party boat records for all of California reveal that rockfish comprised 9 percent of the two and one-half million fish caught by anglers in 1947. By 1955, 55 percent of the three million fish caught by sport anglers consisted of rockfish.

The adult forms of some rockfish are found only in relatively shallow water, often close to shore, but others are found only in deeper water and the adults of a few may occur in offshore water as deep as 3,000 feet. Surveys being conducted by the California Cooperative Oceanic Fisheries Investigation show that the larvae of various species of rockfish occur in great abundance and are widely distributed along the coast, in some cases appearing as far as 300 miles offshore. They are abundant during most of the months of the year. Thus, during their pelagic existence and later as young and immature forms seeking an ultimate bottom habitat, these species are of considerable importance as food for pelagic, mid-water, and bottom living fishes. The young of various rockfish sometimes form a large and important part of the diet of such highly prized species as king salmon, albacore, and petrale sole.

Most of the Pacific Coast scorpaenids were described prior to 1900 by a number of different workers. These men often based their descriptions on a single specimen, and occasionally a freak or variant would be described as new. Others of these early descriptions are inadequate for satisfactory identification of the fish at hand. As a result, the identity of a number of species of rockfish has been in doubt for many years. A number of recent workers have unraveled some of the nomenclatorial problems and reduced several species to synonymy, however, until now no major attempt has been made to redescribe the different species in the light of current knowledge. The present work presents uniform, concise descriptions of all the species comprising the family Scorpaenidae in California waters. Keys and photographs of all these species are presented to facilitate identification.

Proper identification of the 52 kinds of rockfish, inhabiting our waters, will not only aid the industry by providing means of maintaining a uniformity in its products, but is logically the first step in helping to speed future research studies on this increasingly important group of fishes.