Widow Rockfish, Sebastes entomelas

Widow Rockfish, Sebastes entomelas, Juvenile. Fish caught off the beach at Depoe, Oregon, October 2008. Length: 20 cm (7.9 inches). Catch, photograph and identification courtesy of Luke Ovgard, Klamath Falls, Oregon.

Widow Rockfish, Sebastes entomelas. Fish provided by the commercial fishermen of the greater San Diego area, San Diego, California, October 2014. Length: 34 cm (13 inches). Identification courtesy of Milton Love, University of California, Santa Barbara, Goleta, California.

Widow Rockfish, Sebastes entomelas. Fish caught in coastal waters off Sitka, Alaska, August 2017. Length: 36 cm (14 inches). Catch courtesy of Tom Handzus. Photograph courtesy of Chris Wheaton, Fullerton, California. Identification courtesy of Milton Love, University of California, Santa Barbara, Goleta, California.

Widow Rockfish, Sebastes entomelas. Fish caught from coastal waters off Santa Rosa Island, California, August 2019. Length: 36 cm (14 inches). Catch, photograph, and identification courtesy of Kenneth Tse, Toronto, Canada.

The Widow Rockfish, Sebastes entomelas, is a member of the Rockfish and Scorpionfish or Scorpaenidae Family, and is known in Mexico as rocote viruda. 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 Widow Rockfish has a wide body with a depth that is 32% to 36% of standard length. They lack the head spines found in the majority of other rockfish. They have a brassy gray-brown coloration. Their fins vary in color from the transparent pelvic fins to the very dark caudal fin. Their caudal fin has dark membranes. Large adults have a white blotch mid-body halfway between the caudal fin and the head. Their head is short and blunt with modest-sized eyes and a relatively small terminal mouth. Their anal fin has 3 spines and 7 to 10 rays; their caudal fin is lunate; their dorsal fin has 12 or 13 spines and 14 to 16 rays; and, their pectoral fins have 17 to 19 rays. They have 33 to 39 gill rakers. Their body is covered with scales.

The Widow Rockfish is a schooling species found in both mid-water and bottom environments usually over high-relief at depths up to 800 m (2,625 feet). They reach a maximum of 62 cm (2 feet 0 inches) in length, with females being larger than males. They are known to school with Blue Rockfish, Squarespot Rockfish, and Speckled Rockfish. They feed on other fish and invertebrates including amphipods, crabs, jellyfish, krill and shrimp. Reproduction is oviparous with each female releasing between 95,000 and 1,100,000 pelagic eggs. They have lifespans of up to sixty years. The Widow 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 Widow Rockfish is a resident of Mexican waters of the Pacific Ocean but has a very limited distribution being found from Ensenada, Baja California Sur, northward along the extreme northwest coast of Baja.

The Widow Rockfish is most likely confused with the Speckled Rockfish, Sebastes ovalis (oval body; pointed snout; small dark spots covering body) and the Squarespot Rockfish, Sebastes hopkinsi (yellow-brown or tan coloration).

From a conservation perspective the Widow Rockfish has not been formally evaluated. They are an important commercial species in the Pacific Northwest with fish taken by mid-water trawls. They currently suffer from overfishing with stocks significantly depleted. They are caught with some regularity by recreational fishermen. They are a quality food fish if prepared fresh; however, frozen fish have a short shelf life.