Tiger rockfish

Tiger rockfish (Sebastes nigrocinctus)

Rockfish come in more than 100 species and many different shapes, sizes and color patterns. Colors vary from black and drab green to bright orange and red, and some rockfishes wear stripes or splotches. Their heads feature large eyes and thick, broad mouths that dip downward at the corners. Rockfishes are known for the bony plates on their heads and bodies and the heavy spines on their fins.

Rockfish live in a variety of habitats. Some live on rocky reefs or seafloors in nearshore shallow waters. Others live on the deep seafloor or in the water column. In giant kelp forests, rockfish hover motionless under the kelp canopy, buoyed by their air bladders. Some species rest on rocks at the bottom of the kelp forest, with creatures like sea cucumbers and abalone.

Rockfish are one of the longest-living fishes, possibly living to 200 years old in the Gulf of Alaska. That means a rockfish on today’s dinner menu could have been swimming the sea when Abraham Lincoln was delivering his Gettysburg Address.