Silver Surfperch

Hyperprosopon ellipticum

In-depth Information Regarding this Species

U.S. Range in the Pacific Ocean	British Columbia to Baja (Eschmeyer and Herald 1983, Love 1996)
Habitat	Inshore, rocks, piers (Eschmeyer and Herald 1983)
Substrate	Sand (Eschmeyer and Herald 1983, Love 1996)
Depth range (meters)	Down to 110 (Eschmeyer and Herald 1983)
Average Maximum Overall Length (cm)	Usually smaller than 27 (Eschmeyer and Herald 1983, Love 1996)
Overall Length to Age Ratio (cm/age in years)	15/1 (Love 1996)
Overall Maximum Age (years)	7 (Love 1996)
Male Age at Maturity (years)	1 (Love 1996)
Female Age at Maturity (years)	2–some 3–all (Love 1996)
Male Length at Maturity (cm)	15 (Love 1996)
Female Length at Maturity (cm)	18–some 20–all (Love 1996)
Type of Reproduction	Internal fertilization Viviparous (Eschmeyer and Herald 1983, Love 1996)
Fecundity	3–10 per litter (Eschmeyer and Herald 1983) 4–16 (Love 1996)
Time of Year of Spawning	Mating from September–October Spawn from June–August (Oregon) (Love 1996)
Adult Food Preference	Gammarid Amphipods, Sand Crab, Small Fish, Small Clams (Love 1996)
Commercial Fishery	Not important since species is small (Eschmeyer and Herald 1983)

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