Stripetail Rockfish
Rocote Cola Listada
(Sebastes saxicola)

Stripetail Rockfish, Sebastes saxicola: The Stripetail Rockfish is a very easy species to identify due to its disproportionately large eye and striped tail. Its varies in color from pink-red to a yellow-pink-red with a silvery or white belly.

The Stripetail Rockfish reaches 16 inches in length and is found between 300 and 700 feet deep in the water column on the sea floor near small rocks. It is a benthic species, rarely ascending more than a couple of meters above the seafloor. The Stripetail Rockfish is relatively longlived, reaching 38 years.

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

Distribution in Mexico fishing areas

Along the Pacific Coast the Stripetail Rockfish ranges from the eastern Gulf of Alaska to Punta Rompiente, in the Guerrero Negro area of Baja California Sur, Mexico , at 27.73 degrees north.

Due to its small size the Stripetail Rockfish is not of interest to either commercial or recreational anglers but is caught in trawl nets as a by-catch which are utilized in animal food.

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

Stripetail Rockfish picture

Stripetail Rockfish, Sebastes saxicola: 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: 12 cm. Fish identification courtesy of H.J. Walker, Jr., Scripps Institute of Oceanography, La Jolla, Calif. Description and photo courtesy of John Snow.

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