Sebastes mystinus, Blue rockfish : gamefish, aquarium

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Sebastes mystinus (Jordan & Gilbert, 1881)

Blue rockfish
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Sebastes mystinus   AquaMaps   Data sources: GBIF OBIS
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Image of Sebastes mystinus (Blue rockfish)
Sebastes mystinus
Picture by Nichols, J.

Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Teleostei (teleosts) > Perciformes/Scorpaenoidei (Scorpionfishes) > Sebastidae (Rockfishes, rockcods and thornyheads) > Sebastinae
Etymology: Sebastes: Greek, sebastes = august, venerable (Ref. 45335);  mystinus: Name from the Latinized form of the Greek word μυ;stησ, mwhich means initiated one or mystic, c, interpreted by some as 'priest'; 19th century fishermen of Monterey, CA called the fish 'pêche prêtre' because of its dark coloration and its light band between the head bars that resembles a clerical collar (Ref. 103574).
More on authors: Jordan & Gilbert.

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Marine; reef-associated; depth range 0 - 550 m (Ref. 6885), usually 183 - 550 m (Ref. 6885). Subtropical; 45°N - 30°N, 125°W - 115°W

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Point map | Introductions | Faunafri

Eastern Pacific: northern limit is uncertain, at least from Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada (possibly Aleutian Islands, Alaska) to northern Baja California, Mexico.

Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 61.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 40637); max. published weight: 3.8 kg (Ref. 40637); max. reported age: 44 years (Ref. 39247)

Short description Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 13; Dorsal soft rays (total): 15-17; Anal spines: 3; Anal soft rays: 8 - 10; Vertebrae: 26 - 27. Head spines weak to very weak - nasals present, preoculars usually present, supraocular, postocular and tympanic spines usually absent, coronal, parietal and nuchal spines absent (Ref. 27437). Eye diameter and mouth small (Ref. 27437). Deep bodied with large pectoral fins (Ref. 27437). Anal fin profile vertical or slanted posteriorly (Ref. 27437). Caudal fin indented (Ref. 6885). Blue or black in color with vague striping on forehead; lighter ventrally (Ref. 27437). Branchiostegal rays: 7 (Ref. 36715).

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

May be found near the surface or off the bottom, generally over shallow reefs, but also around kelp and over deep reefs (Ref. 2850). Juveniles are pelagic (Ref. 36715). Form schools, sometimes with other rockfishes (Ref. 2850). Feed mainly on krill (Ref. 2850), but also on tunicates, jellyfishes and fishes (Ref. 6885). Viviparous, with planktonic larvae (Ref. 36715). Young are important prey for fishes and other marine vertebrates (Ref. 2850).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae

Viviparous (Ref. 36715, 34817).

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator | Collaborators

Eschmeyer, W.N., E.S. Herald and H. Hammann, 1983. A field guide to Pacific coast fishes of North America. Boston (MA, USA): Houghton Mifflin Company. xii+336 p. (Ref. 2850)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435)


CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Harmless





Human uses

Gamefish: yes; aquarium: public aquariums
FAO - Publication: search | FishSource |

More information

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Internet sources

AFORO (otoliths) | Aquatic Commons | BHL | Cloffa | BOLDSystems | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes: genus, species | DiscoverLife | ECOTOX | FAO - Publication: search | Faunafri | Fishipedia | Fishtrace | GenBank: genome, nucleotide | GloBI | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | MitoFish | Otolith Atlas of Taiwan Fishes | Public aquariums | PubMed | Reef Life Survey | Socotra Atlas | Tree of Life | Wikipedia: Go, Search | World Records Freshwater Fishing | Zoological Record

Estimates based on models

Preferred temperature (Ref. 123201): 0.8 - 7.9, mean 4.2 °C (based on 65 cells).
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804):  PD50 = 0.5000   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.01000 (0.00499 - 0.02004), b=3.09 (2.92 - 3.26), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this Genus-body shape (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level (Ref. 69278):  2.7   ±0.1 se; based on diet studies.
Resilience (Ref. 120179):  Low, minimum population doubling time 4.5 - 14 years (K=0.17 (?); tm=3-5; tmax=44).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  Moderate to high vulnerability (48 of 100).
Nutrients (Ref. 124155):  Calcium = 13.9 [5.0, 45.6] mg/100g; Iron = 0.34 [0.13, 0.81] mg/100g; Protein = 19 [18, 20] %; Omega3 = 0.408 [0.161, 1.050] g/100g; Selenium = 66.4 [22.2, 217.5] μg/100g; VitaminA = 36.5 [11.8, 115.4] μg/100g; Zinc = 0.618 [0.306, 1.205] mg/100g (wet weight);