THE STEINHART AQUARIUM - Gulf of Guinea Science ...

Reproduction and Development: Males
known to guard the brood.
Remarks: Secretive habits make this species
rarely seen.
Ronquils are known only from the North
Pacific.
Monkeyface Prickleback
Cebidichthys violaceus (Stichaeidae)
Pricklebacks
Distribution: Southern Oregon to northcentral
Baja California.
Habitat: Common in tide pools and shallow
rocky areas to 24 m. Hide in territorial crevices
and rock shelters, venturing out around 5 m
to feed.
Appearance: Length to 76 cm. Large and long
compressed eel-like body. Adults usually
uniformly colored black, olive or gray, except
for black streaks across eyes. Dorsal and anal
fins edged with red. Fleshy hump above eyes
pronounced in reproductive males.
Diet: Primarily crustaceans, esp. amphipods;
also worms, clam siphons and algae. Red and
green algae are the preferred diet of 5–8 cm
juveniles.
Reproduction and Development: Spawn
during the spring at 3–4 years old. Female
lays large egg masses in rocky crevices. Eggs
guarded until hatching. Male and female grow
at the same rate for their first 8 years. Thereafter
male grow faster.
Mortality/Longevity: Live to at least 18 years.
Juveniles preyed upon by birds such as great
egrets and great blue herons. Occasionally sold
in fish markets.
Remarks: Sometimes placed in a separate family
(Cebidichthyidae).
Largest fish species in the intertidal zone of the
eastern Pacific.
Able to breathe air. If in an moist environment,
can remain out of water for 35 hours or more.
Not a true eel of the Order Anguilliformes.
Decorated Warbonnet
Chirolophis decoratus (Stichaeidae)
Pricklebacks
Distribution: North Pacific from Kamchatka,
Russia, to the Bering Sea and Alaska, south to
Humboldt Bay, California.
Habitat: Usually among seaweed on rock
California Academy of Sciences
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bottoms from the subtidal to 90 m.
Appearance: Body is eel-like; pale brown with
whitish-cream markings. Dark bars run down
from eyes; prominent dark bars on dorsal,
caudal, and anal fins. “Decorated” by large
cirrus in front of each eye and by dense cirri on
head and spines at front of dorsal fin. The effect
resembles feathers of a chieftain’s warbonnet.
Diet: Small animals that swim or crawl near
its lair.
Remarks: This secretive fish is rarely seen out
of the small rocky crevices where it hides.
Mosshead Warbonnet
Chirolophis nugator (Stichaeidae)
Pricklebacks
Distribution: Aleutian Islands to southern
California.
Habitat: Usually subtidal rocky areas to about
80 m. Often hides in crevices or tubeworm
holes with only head protruding. Max. size:
c. 18 cm.
Appearance: Brown or reddish brown.
Numerous cirri on top of the head, all about
the same length. About 12 black eyespots (or
sometimes short bars) on the dorsal fin. Dark
streak below the eye.
Diet: Known to eat small mollusks and
probably other items.
Remarks: Pricklebacks are long, compressed,
and somewhat eel-like, and are so named
because, in most species, all rays of the dorsal
fin are spiny.
Penpoint Gunnel
Apodichthys flavidus (Pholidae)
Gunnels
Distribution: Kodiak Island, Alaska to Santa
Barbara Island, southern California.
Appearance: They have long, narrow ribbonlike
bodies with light spots along the sides.
Their coloration is red, brown or green. A spine
with a groove in front of the anal fin resembles
a penpoint, hence the common name. To 46 cm.
Habitat: Tide pools and tidal to subtidal areas,
especially among algae, such as rockweed or
other kelps.
Diet: Small mollusks and crustaceans.
Reproduction and Development: Spawning
occurs from January to April in nearshore
waters. The female lays sticky eggs onto a