Kelp Surfperch

Brachyistius frenatus

Photo contributed by: Daniel W. Gotshall To email him click here.

In-depth Information Regarding this Species

U.S. Range in the Pacific Ocean	British Columbia to Baja (Eschmeyer and Herald 1983, Love 1996)
Habitat	Kelp canopy (Eschmeyer and Herald 1983) Open water at night Usually shallow water with algae (Love 1996)
Depth range (meters)	Down to 30 (Eschmeyer and Herald 1983)
Behavior	Aggregates in the summer (Eschmeyer and Herald 1983) School (Love 1996)
Average Maximum Overall Length (cm)	22 (Eschmeyer and Herald 1983) 34 Usually 20 (Love 1996)
Type of Reproduction	Internal fertilization Viviparous (Eschmeyer and Herald 1983, Love 1996)
Fecundity	3–10 per litter (Eschmeyer and Herald 1983)
Time of Year of Spawning	Fall–Early Winter (Love 1996)
Adult Feeding Type	Feed during the day (Love 1996)
Adult Food Preference	Small crustaceans Picks parasites off other fish (Eschmeyer and Herald 1983) Individuals less than 10 cm eat Zooplankton Larger individuals eat Invertebrates off of algae (Love 1996)
Commercial Fishery	None (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