Gopher rockfish (Sebastes carnatus) is a saltwater species recorded in the United States. It is mainly found over reef, rocky, seagrass, at depths of 12–50 m.
Scientific name: Sebastes carnatus · Water: Saltwater
Size: up to 43 cm
Weight: up to 2.83 kg
The gopher rockfish (Sebastes carnatus), also called the gopher sea perch, is a stout, deep-bodied rockfish of the subfamily Sebastinae with a steep dorsal profile, a short snout and large eyes that bulge over the head, and a mottled brown-and-pink body with dark blotches. It occurs in the northeastern Pacific from Cape Blanco, Oregon, south to Ensenada in southern Baja California, commonest between northern Baja California and northern California, and is a solitary, highly territorial demersal fish that shelters in rock crevices and kelp forest cavities by day at depths of about 12 to 50 m. In the United States it is one of the standard inshore rockfish of California and Oregon boat anglers, taken on bottom rigs baited with squid or fish strips, and it is also caught from piers and breakwaters when working the structure. It grows to a maximum total length of about 43 cm and 2.8 kg.
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