Calico Rockfish, Sebastes dallii

Calico Rockfish, Sebastes dallii. Fish caught from coastal waters off San Diego, California, December 2020. Length: 14 cm (5.5 inches). Catch, photograph, and identification courtesy of Josh Leisen (joshadventures.com), Gaylord, Michigan.

Calico Rockfish, Sebastes dallii. Fish caught from coastal waters off Redondo Beach, California, May 2016. Length: 15 cm (5.9 inches). Catch, photograph and identification courtesy of Ben Cantrell, Peoria, Illinois.

Calico Rockfish, Sebastes dallii. Fish caught from coastal waters off San Diego, California, December 2020. Length: 20 cm (7.9 inches). Catch, photograph and identification courtesy of Ben Cantrell, San Diego, California.

Calico Rockfish, Sebastes dallii. Fish provided by the commercial fishermen of the greater San Diego area, San Diego, California, October 2014. Length: 16 cm (6.3 inches).

Calico Rockfish, Sebastes dallii. Fish caught from coastal waters off San Diego, California, August 2019. Length: 20 cm (7.9 inches). Catch, photograph and identification courtesy of George Brinkman, Guelph, Ontario, Canada.

The Calico Rockfish, Sebastes dallii, is a member of the Rockfish and Scorpionfish or Scorpaenidae Family, and is known in Mexico as rocote algodón. Globally, there are one hundred-eight species in the genus Sebastes, of which fifty-three are found in Mexican waters, all in the Pacific Ocean.

The Calico Rockfish has an oval, elongated, and fairly wide body with a depth that is 32% to 36% of standard length. They have an overall greenish-yellow coloration with oblique reddish-brown bars on their sides. Live fish have mottled brown spotting which quickly dissipates post collection. The rays of their caudal fin are dark brown. Their anal and pelvic fins are transparent with a red tinge, their caudal and dorsal fins are dark, and their pectoral fins are orange-red. Their head is sharply pointed with large eyes and a large terminal mouth. Their anal fin has 3 spines, the second being long and stout, and 6 or 7 rays; their caudal fin is square; their dorsal fin has 12 to 14 spines and 12 to 14 rays; and, their pectoral fins have 16 or 17 rays. They have 30 to 36 gill rakers. Their body is covered with scales.

The Calico Rockfish is a demersal species that resides in a wide variety of high and low relief habitats at depths up to 256 m (840 feet). They reach a maximum of 20.0 cm (7.9 inches) in length, with females being larger than males. They are found as solitary individuals or in small schools. They feed on a wide variety of marine organisms including amphipods, bivalves, brittle stars, copepods, crabs, small fish, krill, shrimp, and polychaete worms. They are one of the most abundant rockfish in shallow coastal waters of Southern California. Females release between 3,900 and 18,000 eggs annually. They have lifespans of twelve years. The Calico Rockfish is poorly studied with very limited information available about their lifestyle and behavioral patterns including specific details on age, growth, longevity, movement patterns, diet, habitat use, and reproduction.

The Calico Rockfish is a resident of Mexican waters of the Pacific Ocean but has a limited distribution being found from Cedros Island, Baja California, northward along the central and northwest coasts of Baja.

The Calico Rockfish is very straightforward to identify and cannot be confused with any other species due to the oblique bars on its sides.

From a conservation perspective the Calico Rockfish has not been formally evaluated. They are too small to be of commercial interest. They are caught on occasion by recreational anglers but typically discarded. Their dorsal spines are known to contain a mild toxin.