Semicossyphus pulcher  (Ayres, 1854)

California sheephead
Upload your photos and videos
 Pictures | Google image
Image of Semicossyphus pulcher (California sheephead)
Semicossyphus pulcher
Picture by Gotshall, D.W.

Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes (gen., sp.) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Actinopterygii (ray-finned fishes) > Perciformes (Perch-likes) > Labridae (Wrasses)
Etymology: Semicossyphus: Greek, semi = half + Greek, kossyphos, -ou = a kind of fish (Ref. 45335).

Environment / Climate / Range Ecology

Marine; reef-associated; depth range 0 - 55 m (Ref. 9311), usually 3 - 30 m (Ref. 9311).   Subtropical; 37°N - 22°N, 123°W - 106°W

Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 91.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 2850); max. published weight: 16.0 kg (Ref. 2850); max. reported age: 53 years (Ref. 56049)

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

Eastern Pacific: Monterey Bay in California, USA to Guadalupe Island (off northern central Baja California) and Gulf of California.

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Prefer rocky bottom, particularly in kelp beds. Often feed on hard-shelled organisms such as sea urchins, mollusks, lobsters and crabs. Spawning occur during the summer and the eggs are pelagic (Ref. 9311). Live to more than 50 years of age. Each individual functions first as a female but changes to a male at a length of about 30 cm. Pelagic spawners (Ref. 56049). Flesh is white, of good quality and marketed fresh (Ref. 9311). The large teeth can cause serious bite wounds.

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator : Westneat, Mark | Collaborators

Eschmeyer, W.N., E.S. Herald and H. Hammann, 1983. A field guide to Pacific coast fishes of North America. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, U.S.A. 336 p.

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 90363)

  Vulnerable (VU) (A2bd), IUCN Grouper and Wrasse Specialist Group

Threat to humans

  Traumatogenic (Ref. 13513)




Human uses

Fisheries: commercial; gamefish: yes; aquarium: commercial
FAO(fisheries: production; publication : search) | FisheriesWiki | Sea Around Us

More information

Countries
FAO areas
Ecosystems
Occurrences
Introductions
Stocks
Ecology
Diet
Food items
Food consumption
Ration
Common names
Synonyms
Metabolism
Predators
Ecotoxicology
Reproduction
Maturity
Spawning
Fecundity
Eggs
Egg development
Age/Size
Growth
Length-weight
Length-length
Length-frequencies
Morphometrics
Morphology
Larvae
Larval dynamics
Recruitment
Abundance
References
Aquaculture
Aquaculture profile
Strains
Genetics
Allele frequencies
Heritability
Diseases
Processing
Mass conversion
Collaborators
Pictures
Stamps, Coins
Sounds
Ciguatera
Speed
Swim. type
Gill area
Otoliths
Brains
Vision

Tools

Bio-Quiz | E-book | Field guide | Length-frequency wizard | Life-history tool | Point map | Classification Tree | Catch-MSY |

Special reports

Check for Aquarium maintenance | Check for Species Fact Sheets | Check for Aquaculture Fact Sheets

Download XML

Summary page | Point data | Common names | Photos

Internet sources

BHL | Cloffa | BOLDSystems | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes (gen., sp.) | DiscoverLife | Faunafri | Fishtrace | GenBank(genome, nucleotide) | GOBASE | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | iSpecies | Public aquariums | PubMed | RFE Identification | Scirus | SeaLifeBase | Tree of Life | uBio | Wikipedia(Go, Search) | World Records Freshwater Fishing | Zoological Record

Estimates of some properties based on empirical models

Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82805):  PD50 = 0.6250   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00000 (0.00000 - 0.00000), b=0.00 (0.00 - 0.00), based on (Ref. 93245).
Trophic Level (Ref. 69278):  3.6   ±0.43 se; Based on food items.
Resilience (Ref. 69278):  Low, minimum population doubling time 4.5 - 14 years (tmax=53; tm=5).
Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  High vulnerability (55 of 100) .
Price category (Ref. 80766):   Very high.