Pile Surfperch

Rhacochilus vacca

Pile Surfperch

Rhacochilus vacca

Other Common Names
Pile Perch

Sandy Coast

Other Common Names

Pile Perch

At the Aquarium

Sandy Coast

Appearance

They are usually silver-colored with a dark bar on their midside and a forked tail; they can weigh up to 4 lbs.

Habitat

Ocean waters or estuaries; they use estuaries in spring and summer until giving birth in fall. Often seen near rocks, piers, kelp beds or eelgrass.

Diet

Mostly hard-shelled prey: mussels, barnacles, crabs, shrimps, snails, brittle stars, and sand dollars. Will also eat octopus, fishes, and fish eggs.

Life History

Pile perch reach sexual maturity between 2 and 5 years of age. They mate in fall and the female stores the sperm for about 3 months, and then fertilizes her eggs from mid-December to early February. The young gestate for about 196 days, with the female giving birth to 7-80 offspring from July to mid-August. These fish can reach lengths up to 17 inches and can live up to 13 years.

IUCN Status

Least Concern

Ecosystem & Cultural Importance

Pile Perch are important members of marine food webs. These fish are eaten by a variety of predators including copper rockfish, kelp bass, striped bass, cormorants, seals, and sea lions.

Southeastern Alaska to Baja California, Mexico

These fish are commonly caught by recreational anglers.

Pile perch have short, blunt teeth on their lips and thick, flat, blunt teeth in their throats for crushing their hard-shelled prey. During mating season, the pelvic and anal fin of males turn a bright yellow and they develop black spots on the snout.

Citations & Other Resources

Biodiversity of the Central Coast website: https://www.centralcoastbiodiversity.org/pile-perch-bull-rhacochilus-vacca.html
Lane, E. David, and Canadian Science Advisory Secretariat. A review of the biology and fishery of the Embiotocids of British Columbia. Canadian Science Advisory Secretariat= Secrétariat canadien de consultation scientifique, 2002.https://oaresource.library.carleton.ca/wcl/2016/20160811/Fs70-5-2002-123-eng.pdf
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
Oregon Conservation Strategy website: https://www.oregonconservationstrategy.org/strategy-species/pile-perch/

Pile Surfperch

Pile Surfperch

Other Common Names

At the Aquarium

Appearance

Habitat

Diet

Life History

IUCN Status

Ecosystem & Cultural Importance

Citations & Other Resources

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