Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range
Ecology
Marine; bathydemersal; oceanodromous (Ref. 87829); depth range 0 - 825 m (Ref. 6793), usually 165 - 293 m (Ref. 27437). Deep-water; 64°N - 24°N, 143°E - 110°W (Ref. 54884)
North Pacific: Honshu, Japan to Cape Navarin in the Bering Sea (but not in the Sea of Okhotsk) and La Jolla, California, and along the Aleutians from Stalemate Bank and Bowers Bank to the Alaska Peninsula. Stocks have suffered severe population decline due to overfishing (Ref. 27437).
Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age
Maturity: Lm 33.2, range 25 - 43.3 cm
Max length : 53.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 56527); max. published weight: 2.1 kg (Ref. 56527); max. reported age: 103 years (Ref. 93933)
Dorsal spines (total): 13; Dorsal soft rays (total): 14 - 17; Anal spines: 3; Anal soft rays: 6 - 9; Vertebrae: 26. Head spines weak - nasal, preocular, supraocular (may be absent), postocular, tympanic, parietal, and nuchal (may be absent) spines present, coronal spine absent (Ref. 27437). Long lower jaw with prominent forward directed symphyseal knob (Ref. 27437). Posterior margin of caudal indented (Ref. 6885). Bright to light red, usually with dark markings dorsally, may have some dark stippling on sides and dark blotch on caudal peduncle (Ref. 27437).
Body shape (shape guide): fusiform / normal.
Abundant in offshore waters (Ref. 2850). Young pelagic up to age 3 (Ref. 6885). Grows slowly (Ref. 2850). Viviparous (Ref. 34817). Very important commercial rockfish in the North Pacific (Ref. 2850, 27437) and are considered as one of the straddling stocks in the northwest Pacific (Ref. 87829). Marketed as fillets (Ref. 2850). Utilized fresh and frozen; eaten fried, microwaved and baked (Ref. 9988).
Produces young in small numbers, only about 300,000 when the fish is 20 years old.
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: Version 2025-2)
Threat to humans
Harmless
Human uses
Fisheries: highly commercial; gamefish: yes
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