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Sebastes melanops Girard, 1856

Black rockfish
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Native range | All suitable habitat | Point map | Year 2050
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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.

United States (contiguous states) country information

Common names: Black bass, Black rockfish, Black rockfish
Occurrence: native
Salinity: marine
Abundance: | Ref:
Importance: | Ref:
Aquaculture: | Ref:
Regulations: | Ref:
Uses: gamefish: yes;
Comments: Considered an important game fish in the Pacific coast of the USA (Ref. 27437). Also Ref. 4925, 6885, 11366, 95450.
National Checklist:
Country Information: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/resources/the-world-factbook/geos/us.html
National Fisheries Authority: http://www.nmfs.gov
Occurrences: Occurrences Point map
Main Ref: Eschmeyer, W.N., E.S. Herald and H. Hammann, 1983
National Database:

Common names from other countries

Black bass, Karmazyn czarny, Sort klippefisk, ... more

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 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 Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | 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 (Ref. 128078)

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Harmless




Human uses

Fisheries: minor commercial; gamefish: yes; aquarium: public aquariums
FAO(Fisheries: production; publication : search) | FishSource | Sea Around Us

More information

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Internet sources

Aquatic Commons | BHL | Cloffa | BOLDSystems | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | DiscoverLife | ECOTOX | Faunafri | Fishtrace | GenBank(genome, nucleotide) | GloBI | GOBASE | | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | MitoFish | Otolith Atlas of Taiwan Fishes | Public aquariums | PubMed | Reef Life Survey | Scirus | SeaLifeBase | Tree of Life | Wikipedia(Go, Search) | World Records Freshwater Fishing | Zoobank | Zoological Record

Estimates based on models

Preferred temperature (Ref. 115969): 3.8 - 7.8, mean 5.5 (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).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  High vulnerability (64 of 100).
Climate Vulnerability (Ref. 125649):  Moderate vulnerability (37 of 100).
Price category (Ref. 80766):   Medium.