California sheephead (Semicossyphus pulcher) is a saltwater species recorded in the United States. It is mainly found over reef, rocky, seagrass.
Scientific name: Semicossyphus pulcher · Water: Saltwater
Size: up to 91 cm
Weight: up to 16 kg
The California sheephead (Semicossyphus pulcher, recently lumped into the genus Bodianus) is a large eastern Pacific wrasse, unmistakable for its white chin and heavy protruding canine teeth and for the very different sexes: males are larger with black head and tail sections and a reddish orange midriff, females are pink-bodied, and every fish starts life female and changes sex at roughly 45 cm. It lives in kelp forests and rocky reefs from Monterey Bay, California, to the Gulf of California, feeding on sea urchins, molluscs, lobsters and crabs, which its throat plate grinds into pieces. In the United States it is one of the most prized southern California targets, a hard-fighting and high-value food fish known locally simply as "sheephead", taken from boats and from shore on squid or shrimp baits fished tight to the reef. Fishing pressure off southern California removes the largest fish and therefore the males, skewing the sex ratio, so anglers should check current size and bag rules before keeping one.
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