Barred Surfperch

Amphistichus argenteus

Photo by: Milton Love

In-depth Information Regarding this Species

Habitat	Piers, structures (Love 1996)
Behavior	School (Love 1996)
Average Maximum Overall Length (cm)	43.2 (Love 1996)
Male Length to Age Ratio (cm/age in years)	20.3/4 (Love 1996)
Female Length to Age Ratio (cm/age in years)	20.3/2 (Love 1996)
Maximum Age for Males (years)	9 (Love 1996)
Maximum Age for Females (years)	6 (Love 1996)
Overall Growth Rate	Females grow faster than males (Love 1996)
Male Age at Maturity (years)	1 (Love 1996)
Female Age at Maturity (years)	2 (Love 1996)
Type of Reproduction	Viviparous (Love 1996)
Fecundity	Up to 113 (Love 1996)
Time of Year of Spawning	February–July (Love 1996)
Adult Food Preference	Almost exclusively eats Sand Crabs Sometimes eats Clams, Mussels, Fish Eggs (Love 1996)
Commercial Fishery	25% of commercial perch catch California average annual catch was 5.7 metric tons from 1980–1991 (Love 1996)

Recent Wild Harvest Data for Oregon
Data from the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife
(Data for all surfperch in the family Embiotocidae)

Year	Total Catch (Pounds)	Ex-vessel Value ( U.S. Dollars)
1989	3,710	2,810
1990	4,953	3,540
1991	2,201	1,748
1992	3,596	3,529
1993	1,676	2,458
1994	1,298	1,819
1995	2,471	2,226
1996	3,428	4,788
1997	2,148	2,260
1998	3,319	4,773

© 2003 Stephen Sempier