Sebastes melanops, Black rockfish : fisheries, gamefish, aquarium

You can sponsor this page

Sebastes melanops Girard, 1856

Black rockfish
Add your observation in Fish Watcher
Native range | All suitable habitat | Point map | Year 2050
This map was computer-generated and has not yet been reviewed.
Sebastes melanops   AquaMaps   Data sources: GBIF OBIS
Upload your photos and videos
 Pictures | Videos | Google image
Image of Sebastes melanops (Black rockfish)
Sebastes melanops
Picture by Lonhart, S.I.

US America (contiguous states) territory information

Common names: Black rockfish, Rockfish
Occurrence: native
Salinity: marine
Abundance: | Ref:
Importance: | Ref:
Aquaculture: | Ref:
Regulations: | Ref:
Uses: gamefish: yes;
Comments: Considered an important game fish in the Pacific coast of the USA (Ref. 27437). Also Ref. 4925, 6885, 11366, 95450.
National Checklist:
Territory Information: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/resources/the-world-factbook/geos/us.html
National Fisheries Authority: http://www.nmfs.gov
Occurrences: Occurrences Point map
Main Ref: Eschmeyer, W.N., E.S. Herald and H. Hammann, 1983
National Database:

Common names from other countries

Black bass, λáḱálá, 美洲平鲉, ... more

Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Teleostei (teleosts) > Perciformes/Scorpaenoidei (Scorpionfishes) > Sebastidae (Rockfishes, rockcods and thornyheads) > Sebastinae
Etymology: Sebastes: Greek, sebastes = august, venerable (Ref. 45335); melanops: From the Greek melas and ops meaning 'black' and 'face' (Ref. 27436).
More on author: Girard.

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Marine; reef-associated; depth range 0 - 366 m (Ref. 6885), usually 183 - 274 m (Ref. 6885). Temperate; 7°C - 9°C (Ref. 131065); 62°N - 22°N, 170°E - 110°W

Distribution Territories | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Point map | Introductions | Faunafri

Eastern Pacific: Amchitka Island, Aleutian Islands, Alaska to Paradise Cove, Baja California, Mexico.

Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm 40.3, range 30 - 42 cm
Max length : 63.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 27437); max. published weight: 4.8 kg (Ref. 2850); max. reported age: 50 years (Ref. 39247)

Short description Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 13 - 14; Dorsal soft rays (total): 13 - 16; Anal spines: 3; Anal soft rays: 7 - 9; Vertebrae: 26. Head spines weak to very weak - nasals present, preocular and postocular spines usually absent, supraocular, tympanic, coronal, parietal and nuchal spines absent (Ref. 27437). Symphyseal knob very weak or absent (Ref. 27437). Eyes moderately large (Ref. 27437). Anal fin profile rounded or with greater portion slanted posteriorly (Ref. 27437). Posterior margin of caudal fin indented (Ref. 27437). Dark grey to black with light grey mottling dorsally, lighter ventrally (Ref. 27437). Branchiostegal rays: 7 (Ref. 36715).
Body shape (shape guide): fusiform / normal.

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Found near rocky reefs in shallow water and in open water over deep banks (Ref. 2850). Adults live both off and on bottom (Ref. 2850). Juveniles are pelagic (Ref. 36715). Form schools (Ref. 2850). Feed on fishes (Ref. 27302). Viviparous, with planktonic larvae (Ref. 36715). Young are important prey species for other fishes, marine mammals and birds. Excellent food fish (Ref. 27436).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae

Viviparous (Ref. 36715, 34817).

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator | Collaborators

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)

Not Evaluated 

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Harmless





Human uses

Fisheries: minor commercial; gamefish: yes; aquarium: public aquariums
FAO - Fisheries: landings; Publication: search | FishSource | Sea Around Us

More information

Trophic ecology
Food items (preys)
Diet composition
Food consumption
Food rations
Predators
Ecology
Ecology
Home ranges
Population dynamics
Growth parameters
Max. ages / sizes
Length-weight rel.
Length-length rel.
Length-frequencies
Mass conversion
Recruitment
Abundance
Life cycle
Reproduction
Maturity
Maturity/Gills rel.
Fecundity
Spawning
Spawning aggregations
Eggs
Egg development
Larvae
Larval dynamics
Distribution
Territories
FAO areas
Ecosystems
Occurrences
Introductions
BRUVS - Videos
Anatomy
Gill area
Brain
Otolith
Physiology
Body composition
Nutrients
Oxygen consumption
Swimming type
Swimming speed
Visual pigments
Fish sound
Diseases & Parasites
Toxicity (LC50s)
Genetics
Genome
Genetics
Heterozygosity
Heritability
Human related
Aquaculture systems
Aquaculture profiles
Strains
Ciguatera cases
Stamps, coins, misc.
Outreach
Collaborators
Taxonomy
Common names
Synonyms
Morphology
Morphometrics
Pictures
References
References

Tools

Bio-Quiz | E-book | Field guide | Length-frequency wizard | Life-history tool | Point map | Catch-MSY |

Special reports

Check for Aquarium maintenance | Check for Species Fact Sheets | Check for Aquaculture Fact Sheets

Download XML

Summary page | Point data | Common names | Photos

Internet sources

AFORO (otoliths) | Aquatic Commons | BHL | Cloffa | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes: genus, species | DiscoverLife | ECOTOX | FAO - Fisheries: landings; Publication: search | Faunafri | Fishipedia | Fishtrace | GloBI | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | OceanAdapt | OneZoom | Open Tree of Life | Otolith Atlas of Taiwan Fishes | Public aquariums | PubMed | Reef Life Survey | Socotra Atlas | TreeBase | Tree of Life | Wikipedia: Go, Search | World Records Freshwater Fishing | Zoobank | Zoological Record

Estimates based on models

Preferred temperature (Ref. 123201): 3.8 - 7.8, mean 5.5 °C (based on 52 cells).
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804):  PD50 = 0.5000   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.01000 (0.00495 - 0.02022), b=3.09 (2.92 - 3.26), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this Genus-body shape (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level (Ref. 69278):  4.4   ±0.0 se; based on diet studies.
Resilience (Ref. 120179):  Low, minimum population doubling time 4.5 - 14 years (tm=7.5; K=0.14; tmax=50).
Prior r = 0.18, 95% CL = 0.12 - 0.27, Based on 5 full stock assessments.
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  High vulnerability (64 of 100). 🛈
Climate Vulnerability (Ref. 125649):  Moderate vulnerability (37 of 100). 🛈
Price category (Ref. 80766):   Medium.
Nutrients (Ref. 124155):  Calcium = 6.07 [2.24, 17.66] mg/100g; Iron = 0.114 [0.045, 0.266] mg/100g; Protein = 18.9 [17.8, 20.2] %; Omega3 = 0.774 [0.291, 2.159] g/100g; Selenium = 25.3 [9.1, 74.1] μg/100g; VitaminA = 96.4 [29.4, 326.0] μg/100g; Zinc = 0.322 [0.164, 0.589] mg/100g (wet weight); based on nutrient studies.