Semicossyphus pulcher, California sheephead : fisheries, gamefish, aquarium

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Semicossyphus pulcher (Ayres, 1854)

California sheephead
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Semicossyphus pulcher   AquaMaps   Data sources: GBIF OBIS
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Image of Semicossyphus pulcher (California sheephead)
Semicossyphus pulcher
Female picture by Gotshall, D.W.

Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Teleostei (teleosts) > Eupercaria/misc (Various families in series Eupercaria) > Labridae (Wrasses)
Etymology: Semicossyphus: Greek, semi = half + Greek, kossyphos, -ou = a kind of fish (Ref. 45335).
More on author: Ayres.

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution 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

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

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

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)

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.

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae

A diandric species (Ref. 55367). Transforms to a male at length of about 30.1 cm TL and 7.9 years of age (Ref. 55367). Forms leks during breeding (Ref. 55367). Pelagic spawner (Ref. 56049).

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. Boston (MA, USA): Houghton Mifflin Company. xii+336 p. (Ref. 2850)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435)

  Vulnerable (VU) (A2bd); Date assessed: 31 January 2006

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Traumatogenic (Ref. 13513)





Human uses

Fisheries: commercial; gamefish: yes; aquarium: commercial
FAO - Fisheries: landings; Publication: search | FishSource | Sea Around Us

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Internet sources

AFORO (otoliths) | Aquatic Commons | BHL | Cloffa | BOLDSystems | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes: genus, species | DiscoverLife | ECOTOX | FAO - Fisheries: landings; Publication: search | Faunafri | Fishipedia | Fishtrace | GenBank: genome, nucleotide | GloBI | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | MitoFish | Otolith Atlas of Taiwan Fishes | Public aquariums | PubMed | Reef Life Survey | RFE Identification | Socotra Atlas | Tree of Life | Wikipedia: Go, Search | World Records Freshwater Fishing | Zoological Record

Estimates based on models

Preferred temperature (Ref. 123201): 16.6 - 22.9, mean 21.2 °C (based on 30 cells).
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804):  PD50 = 0.6250   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00955 (0.00456 - 0.02002), b=3.06 (2.89 - 3.23), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this (Sub)family-body shape (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level (Ref. 69278):  3.6   ±0.43 se; based on food items.
Generation time: 6.5 ( na - na) years. Estimated as median ln(3)/K based on 1 growth studies.
Resilience (Ref. 120179):  Very Low, minimum population doubling time more than 14 years (tmax=53; tm=5; Fec=300,000).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  Moderate to high vulnerability (55 of 100).
Climate Vulnerability (Ref. 125649):  Very high vulnerability (78 of 100).
Price category (Ref. 80766):   Very high.
Nutrients (Ref. 124155):  Calcium = 17.8 [8.7, 35.2] mg/100g; Iron = 0.485 [0.267, 0.889] mg/100g; Protein = 19.5 [16.7, 21.7] %; Omega3 = 0.187 [0.109, 0.324] g/100g; Selenium = 19.1 [9.5, 37.2] μg/100g; VitaminA = 36.7 [11.3, 141.8] μg/100g; Zinc = 0.684 [0.467, 1.110] mg/100g (wet weight);