Rockfish

Sebastes is a genus of fish in the family Sebastidae (though some include this in the Scorpaenidae), most of which have the common name of rockfish. A few are called ocean perch, sea perch or redfish, instead. Most of the Sebastes species live in the north Pacific, although two (S. capensis and S. oculatus) live in the South Pacific/Atlantic and four (S. fasciatus, S. mentella, S. norvegicus, and S. viviparus) live in the North Atlantic. The coast off Southern California is the area of highest rockfish diversity, with 56 species living in the Southern California Bight.

The fossil record of rockfish goes back to the Miocene, with unequivocal whole body fossils and otoliths from California and Japan (although fossil otoliths from Belgium, "Sebastes" weileri, may push the record back as far as the early Oligocene).

Rockfish are important sport and commercial fish, and many species have been overfished. As a result, seasons are tightly controlled in many areas. Sebastes species are sometimes fraudulently substituted for the more expensive northern red snapper (Lutjanus campechanus).

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