The yelloweye rockfish (Sebastes ruberrimus) is a species of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the subfamily Sebastinae, the rockfishes, part of the family Scorpaenidae. and one of the biggest members of the genus Sebastes. Its name derives from its coloration. It is also locally known as "red snapper", not to be confused with the warm-water Atlantic species Lutjanus campechanus that formally carries the name red snapper. The yelloweye is one of the world's longest-lived fish species, and is cited to live to a maximum of 114 to 120 years of age. As they grow older, they change in color, from reddish in youth, to bright orange in adulthood, to pale yellow in old age. Yelloweye live in rocky areas and feed on small fish and other rockfish. They reside in the East Pacific and range from Baja California to Dutch Harbor in Alaska.
Yelloweye rockfish are prized for their meat, and were declared overfished in 2002, at which time a survey determined that their population, which had been in decline since the 1980s, was just 7–13% of numbers before commercial fishing of the species began. Because of the slow reproductive age of the species, recovery of the species is difficult, and liable to last decades, even with the harshest restrictions; Washington state, for example, maintains a quota of under 1000 individuals per year. The stock in inside waters is listed as "threatened" while the outside stock was declared overfished and is subject to a rebuilding plan.
Taxonomy
The yelloweye rockfish was first formally described in 1854 as Sebastes ruber by the American physician and ichthyologist William Orville Ayres with the type locality given as San Francisco, California. Later, in 1895, the American zoologist and teacher Frank Cramer described a new species as Sebastolobus ruberrimus. Cramer's name is newer than Ayres's and should be the junior synonym but became more widely known and has been used as the valid name of this taxon through prevailing usage. Some authorities place this species in the monotypic subgenus Sebastopyr. The specific name ruberrimus means "very red" a reference to the uniform red color of this species as adults.
Characteristics
The yelloweye rockfish is colored red on its back, orange to yellow on the sides, and black on the fin tips. Its young are typically under in length, and differ from the adults in that they have two reddish-white stripes along their belly, and are often red. Because of the distinct difference in coloration between juveniles and adults, they were considered separate species for a long time. Its head spines are exceptionally strong. They grow to a maximum length of and are typically found in the range, although specimen have been reported up to a maximum depth of .
Yelloweye rockfish live to be extremely old, even for their unusually long-lived genus. They average 114 to 120 years of age; the oldest ones reach as much as 147 years. They fade from bright orange to a paler yellow as they grow in age. They are exceptionally slow developing as well, not reaching maturity until they are around 20 years of age.
Diet
Larval yelloweye feed on diatoms, dinoflagellates, crustaceans, tintinnids, and cladocerans, and juveniles consume copepods and euphausiids of all life stages. Adults eat demersal invertebrates and small fishes, including other species of rockfish.
Habitat
The yelloweye rockfish has been recorded all along the East Pacific, from Umnak Island and Prince William Sound, Alaska, to Ensenada, Baja California. They are typically found in deeper, rocky-bottomed areas; in fact, they often spend their entire lifetime on a single rock pile.
Stock Structure
Genetic analysis has found three distinct populations of yelloweye rockfish: the outside coastal population off the coast of Alaska, British Columbia, and the West Coast of the United States; an inside population in the Salish Sea, including the San Juan Islands, Strait of Georgia, and Puget Sound; and third stock in Hood Canal.
Fishing impacts and stock status
Due to their large size and fillet quality, yelloweye rockfish are a highly prized species in both commercial and recreational fisheries. Historically, yelloweye are taken in by trawl, line, and sports gear. Fishing of the species using trawls was restricted following a 2000 resolution to keep trawlers out of their primary habitats.
Yelloweye brought to the surface by fishing boats tend to die of decompression barotrauma and temperature shock. According to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, the fish is liable to die if brought to the surface from a depth of over .