Shortspine Combfish, Zaniolepis frenata
Shortspine Combfish, Zaniolepis frenata. Fish caught from 700-foot coastal waters off Rendondo Beach, California, July 2016. Length: 12.7 cm (5.0 inches). Catch, photograph and identification courtesy of Eli (obsessiveangling.wordpress.com).
The Shortspine Combfish, Zaniolepis frenata, is a member of the Combfish or Zaniolepididae Family, that is also known as the Shortspine Greenling and in Mexico as cepillo espina corta. Globally, there are three species in the family and two species of the Zaniolepis genus are found in Mexican waters of the Pacific Ocean.
The Shortspine Combfish has a very slender elongated compressed body. They are tan or pink dorsally with darker diffuse markings, transitioning to white ventrally. Underwater they have a series of dark saddles on the back and various blotches and spots on the side and a dark bar across the eye. The anal fin is long with a wide dark stripe and a white margin; their caudal fin is dark brown with a yellow line at the base and a yellow margin; their first dorsal fin is pale with three rows of dark spots, one at the base, one in the middle and one at the margin; and their pectoral and pelvic fins are similar in size and color, being dark brown in the middle and yellow or white at the margins. Their head is relatively short with a sharply pointed snout with a small terminal mouth with the eye set high on the head. Their anal fin has 3 spines and 15 or 16 rays with a long base; their caudal fin is slightly rounded; their first dorsal fin has 21 spines with a long base; their second dorsal fin has 11 or 12 rays; and, their pectoral and pelvic fins are of moderate length and do not reach the anal fin base. They are covered with small scales and rough to the touch. They have a prominent lateral line set high on the body.
The Shortspine Combfish is a benthic species that is found from the intertidal zone to depths up to 410 m (1,350 feet) over mud and cobble, and pebble bottoms. They are normally found in waters between 7.8oC (46oF) and 12.7oC (55oF). They reach a maximum of 25 cm (10 inches) in length. They feed on amphipods, copepods, isopods, polychaetes, shrimps and fish eggs. In turn they are preyed upon by various sea birds, sea lions, and various fishes. Each female will deposit between 800 and 1,000 eggs annually. The Shortspine Combfish 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.
In Mexican waters the Shortspine Combfish is a resident of the Pacific but has a limited range being found from Bahía Asuncion just south of Guerrero Negro, Baja California Sur, northward along the central and northwest coasts of Baja and within the Sea of Cortez.
The Shortspine Combfish is straightforward to identify but is similar to and can be confused with the Longspine Combfish, Zaniolepis latipinnis (very elongated second dorsal spine).
From a conservation perspective the Shortspine Combfish has not been formally evaluated. They are not a common catch of recreational anglers. They are generally small and therefore of limited interest to most. They were an important food source of Native Americans and date to the Middle Holocene Period, 6,000 years ago.