Fish Identification Photos: Blackgill Rockfish, Sebastes melanostomus: The Blackgill Rockfish has a spine-covered heavy body that is red to redish-pink in color. A key to identification of the Blackgill Rockfish is black coloration in the fold above the upper lip, black in the mouth, and black as the rear edge of the gill cover.

The Blackgill Rockfish has red to pinkish-brown fins. The caudal fin is straight to slightly concaved.

The Blackgill Rockfish reaches 24 inches in length and is found between 300 and 2,500 feet deep in the water column, in and around deep high-relief rock areas with extensive caves and crevices. It moves to deeper waters with maturity.

The Blackgill Rockfish is known to live to at least 87 years with females being larger than and outliving males. The females produce between 150,000 and 750,000 eggs per year in one brood.

The diet of the Blackgill Rockfish consists primarily of fishes. Due to the indicated black markings, it cannot be easily confused with any other species.

Along the Pacific Coast the Blackgill Rockfish ranges from British Columbia to Isla Cedros in Central Baja California. In the late 1970s a commercial fishery for this species developed in California waters which quickly depleted the stock. Due to the depth at which is resides, it is of limited interest to recreational anglers. It is sold in Asian fish markets in Southern California.

The Blackgill Rockfish is a member of the Scorpaenidae Family and Sebastes Genus which in Mexico are known as rocotes.

Blackgill Rockfish, Sebastes melanostomus: Caught about 1,250 feet deep off Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico, November 2007. Shown with Juan Lu aboard the sportfishing boat Bad Dog. Description courtesy of John Snow. Photo courtesy of Steve Ross.