This long, eel-like fish is named for the fleshy crest, or cockscomb, on top of its head. Males have a larger, more prominent cockscomb than females. Females have an olive-green to brown background color, with patterns on the pectoral, anal, and caudal fins, and sometimes orangish pectoral fins. Males have a brown or black body color with seasonally intense red or orange on the pectoral and anal fins, and some red on the dorsal fin.
Habitat
Rocky intertidal to subtidal depths of 100 feet, and can be found in estuaries.
Males will be aggressive towards another during breeding season, biting, displaying at, and chasing one another around a female. While competing, the males’ fins will turn a deep red or orange color and the spot on the forward end of their dorsal fin will become outlined in gold. During courtship, a male and female will swim around and over each other, sometimes nudging one another. A female will spawn only once a season, with an average of 1,382 eggs in her egg mass, with larger females laying more than the smaller females. Spawning occurs under a rock, and the sticky white eggs gradually turn yellowish, and then develop a green tint once the eyespots of the embryos within become visible. A female cares for the eggs by coiling around the egg mass with her body. She uses the back portion of her body and caudal fin to fan the egg mass. She continues guarding and caring for these eggs until they hatch, which takes an average of 29 days. Upon hatching, larvae, as small as 0.3 inches, will swim to the surface and are planktonic but settle by the time they are 0.7 inches long. This fish can reach a maximum length of 8 inches and live to at least 5 years of age.
IUCN Status
Not Evaluated
Ecosystem & Cultural Importance
High cockscombs feed their predators which include rock and masked greenlings, Steller sea lions, garter snakes, river otters, and minks.
These fish can survive being stranded out of water during low tide. A 3.9 inches long individual can survive for about 20 hours out of water.
Citations & Other Resources
Coleman, Ronald M. inchesReproductive biology and female parental care in the cockscomb prickleback, Anoplarchus purpurescens (Pisces: Stichaeidae).inches Environmental Biology of Fishes 35 (1992): 177-186.
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.
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