Sebastes melanostictus (Matsubara, 1934)
Blackspotted rockfish

Family:  Sebastidae (Rockfishes, rockcods and thornyheads), subfamily: Sebastinae
Max. size:  53.9 cm SL (male/unsexed)
Environment:  benthopelagic; marine; depth range 84 - 1000 m
Distribution:  Pacific: from Japan (about 35°N), north through the Kuril Is., Aleutian Is., and the Bering Sea to 60.5°N; south to southern California on Coronado Bank, at 32.6°N.
Diagnosis:  Dorsal spines (total): 12-14; Dorsal soft rays (total): 12-15; Anal spines: 3-3; Anal soft rays: 7-8; Vertebrae: 26-27. Head spines, 8; infraorbital spines, 2 or more; body coloration generally dusky with faint mottling on dorsum; spinous dorsal-fin and rest of body often spotted; dorsal-fin spine 1 longer, 1.0 to 1.8 times into orbit length, 5.9-9.6% SL; dorsal-fin spine 4 longer, 12.0-18.4% SL; gill rakers longer, 3.9-7.1% SL and more numerous in comparison to S. aleutianus. Genetically, with the protein variants ACP*46, either IDDH*500 or *750 or both, either PGM-2*83 or *74 or both, and XO*109 (Hawkins et al., 2005); homozygosity at microsatellite allele ?Sma6*177 (Gharrett et al., 2005, 2006); and mitochondrial haplotype A of Gharrett et al. (2005, 2006) (Ref.87139).
Biology: 
IUCN Red List Status: Not Evaluated (N.E.) Ref. (130435)
Threat to humans:  harmless
Country info:   
 


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