Bocaccio Rockfish

Sebastes paucispinis

Bocaccio Rockfish

Sebastes paucispinis

Other Common Names
Rock Salmon, Salmon Grouper

Rocky Coast

Other Common Names

Rock Salmon, Salmon Grouper

At the Aquarium

Rocky Coast

Appearance

Bocaccio have a very large mouth with a protruding lower jaw. Their coloring is an olive brown to red on the back, and a silvery red to pink on the sides and below.

Habitat

Adults can be found living in loose schools above rocky areas while others live solitarily. They can be found around various surfaces including piers, rocky ridges, caves, or under ledges.

Diet

Young boccaccio prey on other small fish including young rockfish, surfperch, jack and mackerel. Adults also eat mostly fish, including other rockfish species, hake, sablefish, anchovies, and lanternfish.

Life History

Boccacio copulate September through October and fertilization is often delayed. Embryonic development requires 1-2 months. Larvae are released October through July, with a 15 inch female birthing 20,000 young, while a 30.5 inch female can birth 2,300,000 young. Larvae start life as plankton, drifting close to the surface, and remain pelagic as early juveniles after undergoing metamorphosis, drifting for as long as 5.5 months, when they reach lengths of about 4 inches. In spring and summer, they settle to shallow, nearshore areas, often near structures such as algae, rocky reefs, eelgrass, and piers. Juveniles will move into deeper water as they continue to grow.

Boccaccio can reach lengths of 39 inches and can live for at least 58 years.

IUCN Status

Critically Endangered

Ecosystem & Cultural Importance

Boccaccio are eaten by sharks, chinook salmon, other rockfish, lingcod, albacore tuna, terns, harbor seals, sea lions, whales, and porpoises.

Alaska to Baja California, Mexico

These fish are a popular recreational fish that can be caught from boats, jetties, or piers.

While bocaccio rockfish are classified as Critically Endangered by the IUCN globally, Pacific Northwest populations are considered stable and are sustainably harvested off the Oregon coast.

Young bocaccio grow very quickly, at rates of 0.02-0.04 inches per day during their first 50-150 days of life.

Citations & Other Resources

Drake, Jonathan Scott, et al. inchesStatus review of five rockfish species in Puget Sound, Washington: Bocaccio (Sebastes paucispinis), canary rockfish (S. pinniger), yelloweye rockfish (S. ruberrimus), greenstriped rockfish (S. elongatus), and redstripe rockfish (S. proriger).inches (2010).
He, Xi, et al. inches Status of Bocaccio, Sebastes paucispinis, in the Conception, Monterey and Eureka INPFC areas for 2015.inches Portland, OR: Pacific Fisheries Management Council (2015).
Love, Milton S. Certainly more than you want to know about the fishes of the Pacific Coast: a postmodern experience. Really Big Press: Santa Barbara. 2011. 649 pp. ISBN 978-0-9628725-6-3.
Omori, Kristen L., Cindy A. Tribuzio, and Bridget Ferriss. inches16. Assessment of the Other Rockfish stock complex in the Gulf of Alaska.inches (2023).
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species:
Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife website
Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery Management Plan

Bocaccio Rockfish

Bocaccio Rockfish

Other Common Names

At the Aquarium

Appearance

Habitat

Diet

Life History

IUCN Status

Ecosystem & Cultural Importance

Citations & Other Resources

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