Species: Sebastes sinensis, Blackmouth rockfish

inside mouth & gill chamber black

spines above front mouth point back
Sebastes sinensis Chen, 1975
Blackmouth rockfish
Body compressed, oval; head relatively large, compressed, bluntly pointed; eye moderately large; between eyes narrow, with 3 grooves; head spines strong; top of head with 6-7 pairs of spines, absent over center of eye; lower edge of bone below eye & above front side of mouth with 2 spines pointing down & to rear; no spiny longitudinal ridge under eye; numerous small conical teeth on jaws; teeth present on roof of mouth; gill rakers 29-33; a single dorsal fin, usually strongly notched at the rear of the spiny part, XIII strong, venomous spines, 4th-5th spines longest,11 (11-13) soft rays; anal fin III, spines long, strong, 2nd spine longest, 5-6 (5-7); pelvics I, 5, under pectorals; pectorals large, 18 (17-18); tail fin slightly concave; lateral line with 36-46 pored scales, last one on base of tail fin; scales small, primarily smooth.
Adults pink to red, with light to heavy marking by dark patches on back and sides; membranes of edges of spinous dorsal and pectoral black; inside mouth, gill chamber and lining of gut cavity black.
Reaches 15.2 cm.
Lives on rocky bottoms?
Depth range: 290-654 m.
The central Gulf of California.
Note: We have not included S. peduncularis and S. varispinnis, both of which are known only from a very few juveniles, and could be synonyms of S. cortezi and S. diploproa, respectively.

High Resolution Map Download
- Salinity
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- Marine
- Marine Only
- Inshore/Offshore
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- Inshore
- Inshore Only
- Water Column Position
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- Bottom only
- Bottom
- Habitat
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- Reef (rock/coral/oyster)
- Reef only
- Reef associated (reef + edges-water column & soft bottom)
- Rocks
- FishBase Habitat
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- Bathydemersal
- Feeding Group
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- Carnivore
- No Data
- Diet
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- Bony fishes
- No Data
- Octopus/squid/cuttlefish
- Mobile benthic crustacea (shrimps/crabs)
- Egg Type
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- Pelagic larva
- Live birth
- Global Endemism
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- East Pacific endemic
- Tropical Eastern Pacific (TEP) endemic
- Regional Endemism
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- Continent only
- Continent
- Cortez province endemic
- TEP endemic
- Continental TEP endemic
- Residency
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- Resident
- Climate Zone
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- Northern Subtropical (Cortez Province + Sinaloan Gap)
- IUCN Red List
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- Not evaluated / Listed
- CITES
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- Not listed
- Length Max
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- 15.2
- Depth Range Min
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- 290
- Depth Range Max
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- 654