THE STEINHART AQUARIUM - Gulf of Guinea Science ...

Redtail Surfperch
Amphistichus rhodoterus (Embiotocidae)
Surfperches
Distribution: Vancouver Island to Monterey Bay.
Habitat: Sand beaches and rocky shores in surf.
Appearance: All fins reddish. Faded brown bars
on the side. Silvery overall with pale olive shading
above. Caudal fin broadly forked; dorsal fin
distinctive for the long dorsal spines that contrast
with shorter soft rays. Max. size: 41 cm.
Diet: Worms, crabs, other small crustaceans,
and fishes.
Reproduction and Development: Females
viviparous and reproductively mature at 3–4
years; males mature at 2 years. Females enter
bays and estuaries to spawn.
Mortality/Longevity: Life span: up to 9 years.
Remarks: This shallow water schooling fish
is an important sport fish, the surfperch
most often caught from central California
northward. Comprises 10–30% of the total
recreational catch in this area.
Redtails also support a sizable commercial
fishery, and comprise almost 75% of the
commercial surfperch catch.
Shiner Surfperch
Cymatogaster aggregata (Embiotocidae)
Surfperches
Distribution: Wrangell, Alaska to Baja California.
Habitat: Usually in shallow water around
eelgrass beds, piers, pilings and oil platforms.
Also in calm waters along exposed coast. Enters
brackish and fresh waters. Lives in loose
schools to depths of 146 m.
Appearance: Length to 18 cm. Thin-bodied.
Colored silvery, with rows of dark spots on
scales forming vague black stripes on sides,
crossed by 3 vertical yellow bars.
Diet: Small crustaceans, crab larvae, polychaete
worms, as well as planktonic copepods,
amphipods, fish eggs, algae and diatoms.
Reproduction and Development: Usually
mate during the summer; young born the following
spring or summer. Internal fertilization.
Viviparous; young embryos are nourished
internally and are quite large as newborns.
Litter size varies from 4–25. Some males are
sexually active immediately after their birth.
Females grow faster than males.
California Academy of Sciences
161
Mortality/Longevity: Preyed upon by kelp
bass, sand bass, halibut, harbor seals and humans.
Live to at least 6 years.
Remarks: Little commercial value, but often
used as baitfish.
Kelp Surfperch
Brachyistius frenatus (Embiotocidae)
Surfperches
Distribution: Northern British Columbia to
central Baja California.
Habitat: Among giant kelp, usually in kelp
canopy to 30 m.
Appearance: Upturned snout, oblique mouth,
and head profile concave at the eye. Brassy or
golden brown, nearly matching the color of
kelp. Darker above, often with blue spots or
streaks. Among the smaller surfperches; max.
length: 22 cm.
Diet: Juveniles and small individuals:
zooplankton. Larger adults: small crustaceans,
usually those that live on kelp as well as parasites
from other fishes, particularly blacksmith.
Reproduction and Development: Livebearer.
Breed in fall and early winter, spawn in spring.
Black Surfperch
Embiotoca jacksoni (Embiotocidae)
Surfperches
Distribution: Fort Bragg, California to Punta
Abreojos, Baja California.
Habitat: Nearshore reefs and kelp forests. Also
over sand, and in estuaries near algae. Usually
within 1 m of the substrate.
Appearance: Almost never black. Length to
39 cm. Deep, very compressed body. Colored
various shades of brown, red, green above,
yellowish below, darker bars on sides, blue bar
on base of anal fin. Often sports a mustache-like
black bar on upper lip.
Diet: Worms, crustaceans and mollusks. Also
are cleaner fish of conspecifics as well as other
species.
Reproduction and Development: Summer
is the peak breeding season. Fertilization
is internal. Viviparous; young embryos are
nourished internally and are quite large as
newborns.
Mortality/Longevity: Prey of leopard sharks.
Remarks: Species name jacksoni, is after A.C.
Jackson, who, in the 19th century, first noted