Search | Site map | HMSC Visitor Center Home

E-Sea Tour

Copper Rockfish

Scientific (Latin) name: Sebastes caurinus
What does it eat? Juveniles: plankton. Adults: octopi, shrimp, crab, and small fish.
Where does it live? Gulf of Alaska to central Baja California; most abundant off the coast of British Columbia.

Adults and juveniles can be such a variety of colors that identification can be confusing. Copper Rockfish are also known as the fish that never die, because they survive in air for quite a while. They can grow to 22.5 inches in length; and get as old as 14 years.

Adults generally live at depths below 400 feet, but they can be found between 200 and 600 feet. These are solitary, bottom-dwelling fish that commonly live on high relief such as rocky pinnacles and shipwrecks.

They have been sighted sharing caves with Giant Pacific octopuses.

Copper rockfish
Copper rockfish

Next: Pacific octopus

Home | About the Center | Current Events | Exhibits | Learning | Marine Research
The Visitor Center Bookstore

OSU disclaimer

Original Visitor Center site design by Lena James and ESPublications.
Additional design and site development by Pat Kight, Oregon Sea Grant
Comments and questions about the Visitor Center Web site .

© Oregon Sea Grant, Oregon State University.
Unless otherwise credited, all photos on this site are copyrighted by Oregon Sea Grant.

Last updated: June 16, 2003