Greenspotted Rockfish
Rocote Verde
(Sebastes chlorostictus)

Greenspotted Rockfish, Sebastes chlorostictus: The Greenspotted Rockfish is a spiny squat-bodied fish that varies in color from green-brown dorsally to yellow ventrically.

The Greenspotted Rockfish has green spots above the lateral line and on top of the head which give rise to its common name.

The fins are green and fringed in pink and there are three to five white rectangular blotches on the back above the lateral line.

In most specimens there are several alternating yellow and pink bars radiating posteriorly from the eyes. The Greenspotted Rockfish does not have scales on it lower jaws.

The Greenspotted Rockfish reaches 19 inches in length and is found between 100 and 1,200 feet deep in the water column on the sea floor near rocks. It is a benthic species, rarely ascending more than a meter above the sea floor. It is relatively long-lived reaching 33 years.

Little is known about the food habits of this fish species but it is assumed that it consumes copepods, krill, and a variety of zooplankton.

The Greenspotted Rockfish is a difficult species to identify, being easily confused with the Greenblotched Rockfish, Sebastes rosenblatti, and the Pink Rockfish, Sebastes eos (both have scales on their lower jaws and both lack defined spots).

Distribution in Mexico fishing areas

Along the Pacific Coast the Greenspotted Rockfish ranges from southern British Columbia to Magdalena Bay, southern Baja California (25.51 degrees north). In the California commercial fishery, it istaken by gill nets, trawlers, and by hook and line. The Greenspotted Rockfish is a common component of the recreational sportfishing catch from central California to central Baja California.

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

Greenspotted Rockfish picture 1

Greenspotted Rockfish picture 2

Greenspotted Rockfish, Sebastes chlorostictus: 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. Size 22 cm. Fish identification courtesy of Dr. John Hyde, NOAA. Description and photos courtesy of John Snow.

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