Greenblotched Rockfish
Rocote Motas Verdes
(Sebastes rosenblatti)

Greenblotched Rockfish, Sebastes rosenblatti: The Greenblotched Rockfish is a spiny deep-bodied fish that varies in color from whitish-green to red with vermiculations on the back and top of the head.

The fins of the Greenblotched Rockfish are green and fringed in white, and there are four or five white rectangular blotches on the back above the lateral line.

This fish species has scales on its lower jaw, 17 pectoral rays, spines on the lower edges of the gill covers and more than 30 gill rakers on the lower arch.

The Greenblotched Rockfish reaches 19 inches in length and is found between 180 and 1,600 feet deep in the water column on the sea floor near rocks. It is a semi-solitary species and is found either alone of in small groups. It is relatively long-lived, reaching 50 years of age,

It consumes copepods, krill and a variety of zooplankton.

The Greenblotched Rockfish is a difficult species to identify being easily confused with the Greenspotted Rockfish, Sebastes chlorostictus (well defined spotting on the back and head; no scales on underside of the jaw) and the Pink Rockfish, Sebastes eos (18 pectoral rays; fewer than 30 gill rakers on the lower arch).

Distribution in Mexico fishing areas

Along the Pacific Coast of North American the Greenblotched Rockfish ranges from northern California to Cedros Island, Central Baja California.

This fish is considered to be a modestly important species in the southern California commercial fishery, and is taken by gill net and hook and line. It is a minor component of the recreational sportfishing catch.

It is a member of the Scorpaenidae Family and Sebastes Genus which in Mexican fishing areas are known as rocotes.

Greenblotched Rockfish picture 1

Greenblotched Rockfish picture 2

Greenblotched Rockfish picture 3

Greenblotched Rockfish, Sebastes rosenblatti: Both fish caught while fishing out of 600-foot deep water at the 9.5-mile bank off Point Loma, Calif., in April 2008 by Eddie Kisfaludy, Scripps Institute of Oceanography, La Jolla, Calif. Sizes 13 cm and 28.5 cm. Fish identification courtesy of Dr. John Hyde, NOAA. Description and photos courtesy of John Snow.

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