''Sebastes'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...

of marine

ray-finned fish Actinopterygii (; ), members of which are known as ray-finned fishes, is a class of bony fish. They comprise over 50% of living vertebrate species. The ray-finned fishes are so called because their fins are webs of skin supported by bony or h ...

belonging to the

subfamily In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classifica ...

Sebastinae part of the

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

Scorpaenidae The Scorpaenidae (also known as scorpionfish) are a family of mostly marine fish that includes many of the world's most venomous species. As their name suggests, scorpionfish have a type of "sting" in the form of sharp spines coated with venom ...

, most of which have the common name of rockfish. A few are called ocean perch, sea perch or redfish instead. They are found in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.

Taxonomy

''Sebastes'' was first described as a genus in 1829 by the French

zoologist Zoology ()The pronunciation of zoology as is usually regarded as nonstandard, though it is not uncommon. is the branch of biology that studies the animal kingdom, including the structure, embryology, evolution, classification, habits, and d ...

Georges Cuvier Jean Léopold Nicolas Frédéric, Baron Cuvier (; 23 August 1769 – 13 May 1832), known as Georges Cuvier, was a French naturalist and zoologist, sometimes referred to as the "founding father of paleontology". Cuvier was a major figure in na ...

, the Dutch

ichthyologist Ichthyology is the branch of zoology devoted to the study of fish, including bony fish ( Osteichthyes), cartilaginous fish ( Chondrichthyes), and jawless fish ( Agnatha). According to FishBase, 33,400 species of fish had been described as of O ...

Pieter Bleeker Pieter Bleeker (10 July 1819 – 24 January 1878) was a Dutch medical doctor, ichthyologist, and herpetologist. He was famous for the ''Atlas Ichthyologique des Indes Orientales Néêrlandaises'', his monumental work on the fishes of East Asia ...

designated ''Perca norvegica'', which may have been originally described by the Norwegian zoologist

Peter Ascanius Peter Ascanius (24 May 1723 – 4 June 1803) was a Norwegian-Danish biologist and geologist. He was a professor of zoology and mineralogy. Early life and education He was born at Aure in Møre og Romsdal, Norway. In 1742 he graduated from ...

in 1772, as the

type species In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specim ...

in 1876. The genus is the type genus of both the

tribe The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide usage of the term in English is in the discipline of anthropology. This definition is contested, in part due to confl ...

Sebastini and the subfamily Sebastinae, although some authorities treat these as the subfamily Sebastinae and the family Sebastidae, separating the Sebastidae as a distinct family from the Scorpaenidae. but other authorities place it in the Perciformes in the suborder Scorpaenoidei. Some authorities subdivide this large genus into subgenera as follows: * ''Sebastes'' Cuvier, 1829 ** ''S. fasciatus'' ** ''S. mentella'' ** ''S. norvegicus'' ** ''S. viviparus'' * ''Acutomentum'' Eigenmann & Beeson, 1893 ** ''S. alutus'' ** ''S. baramenuke'' ** ''S. brevispinis'' ** ''S. entomelas'' ** ''S. flammeus'' ** ''S. hopkinsi'' ** ''S. iracundus'' ** ''S. kiyomatsui'' ** ''S. macdonaldi'' ** ''S. minor'' ** ''S. ovalis'' ** ''S. rufus'' ** ''S. scythropus'' ** ''S. wakiyai'' * ''Allosebastes'' Hubbs, 1951 ** ''S. cortezi'' ** ''S. diploproa'' ** ''S. emphaeus'' ** ''S. peduncularis'' ** ''S. proriger'' ** ''S. rufinanus'' ** ''S. saxicola'' ** ''S. semicinctus'' ** ''S. sinensis'' ** ''S. variegatus'' ** ''S. varispinis'' ** ''S. wilsoni'' ** ''S. zacentrus'' * ''Auctospina'' Eigenmann & Beeson 1893 ** ''S. auriculatus'' ** ''S. dallii'' * ''Emmelas'' Jordan & Evermann 1898 ** ''S. glaucus'' * ''Eosebastes'' Jordan & Evermann, 1896 ** ''S. aurora'' ** ''S. crameri'' ** ''S. melanosema'' ** ''S. melanostomus'' * ''Hatumeus'' Matsubara, 1943 ** ''S. owstoni'' * ''Hispaniscus'' Jordan & Evermann, 1896 ** ''S. elongatus'' ** ''S. levis'' ** ''S. rubrivinctus'' * ''Mebarus'' Matsubara 1943 ** ''S. atrovirens'' ** ''S. cheni'' ** ''S. inermis'' ** ''S. joyneri'' ** ''S. taczanowskii'' ** ''S. thompsoni'' ** ''S. ventricosus'' * ''Murasoius'' Matsubara 1943 ** ''S. nudus'' ** ''S. pachycephalus'' * ''Neohispaniscus'' Matsubara 1943 ** ''S. schlegelii'' ** ''S. vulpes'' ** ''S. zonatus'' * ''Pteropodus'' Eigenmann & Beeson, 1893 ** ''S. carnatus'' ** ''S. caurinus'' ** ''S. chrysomelas'' ** ''S. hubbsi'' ** ''S. longispinis'' ** ''S. maliger'' ** ''S. nebulosus'' ** ''S. nivosus'' ** ''S. rastrelliger'' ** ''S. trivittatus'' * ''Rosicola'' Jordan & Evermann, 1896 ** ''S. babcocki'' ** ''S. miniatus'' ** ''S. pinniger'' * ''Sebastichthys''

Gill A gill () is a respiratory organ that many aquatic organisms use to extract dissolved oxygen from water and to excrete carbon dioxide. The gills of some species, such as hermit crabs, have adapted to allow respiration on land provided they ar ...

, 1862 ** ''S. nigrocinctus'' * ''Sebastocarus'' Jordan & Evermann, 1927 ** ''S. serriceps'' * ''Sebastodes'' Gill, 1861 ** ''S. goodei'' ** ''S. itinus'' ** ''S. jordani'' ** ''S. paucispinis'' ** ''S. steindachneri'' * ''Sebastomus'' Gill, 1864 ** ''S. capensis'' ** ''S. chlorostictus'' ** ''S. constellatus'' ** ''S. ensifer'' ** ''S. eos'' ** ''S. exsul'' ** ''S. helvomaculatus'' ** ''S. lentiginosus'' ** ''S. notius'' ** ''S. oculatus'' ** ''S. rosaceus'' ** ''S. rosenblatti'' ** ''S. serranoides'' ** ''S. simulator'' ** ''S. spinorbis'' ** ''S. umbrosus'' * ''Sebastopyr'' Jordan & Evermann, 1927 ** ''S. ruberrimus'' * ''Sebastosomus'' Gill, 1864 ** ''S. ciliatus'' ** ''S. diaconus'' ** ''S. flavidus'' ** ''S. melanops'' ** ''S. mystinus'' ** ''S. variabilis'' * ''Takenokius'' Matsubara, 1943 ** ''S. oblongus'' * ''Zalopyr'' Jordan & Evermann, 1898 ** ''S. aleutianus'' ** ''S. borealis'' ** ''S. matsubarae'' ** ''S. melanostictus'' * ''Incertae sedis'' ** ''S. gilli'' ** ''S. koreanus'' ** ''S. moseri'' ** ''S. phillipsi'' ** ''S. polyspinis'' ** ''S. reedi'' The genus name is derived from the Greek ''Sebastos'', an honorific used in ancient Greek for the Roman imperial title of

Augustus Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian, was the first Roman emperor; he reigned from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. He is known for being the founder of the Roman Pr ...

, an allusion to the old name for ''S. norvegicus'' on

Ibiza Ibiza (natively and officially in ca, Eivissa, ) is a Spanish island in the Mediterranean Sea off the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. It is from the city of Valencia. It is the third largest of the Balearic Islands, in Spain. Its la ...

, its type locality, which Cuvier translated as “august” or “venerable”. The

fossil record A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...

of rockfish goes back to the

Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and means "less recen ...

, with unequivocal whole body fossils and otoliths from California and Japan (although fossil otoliths from

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to ...

, "''Sebastes''" ''weileri'', may push the record back as far as the early

Oligocene The Oligocene ( ) is a geologic epoch of the Paleogene Period and extends from about 33.9 million to 23 million years before the present ( to ). As with other older geologic periods, the rock beds that define the epoch are well identified but t ...

Species

''Sebastes'' contains 109 recognized extant species in this genus are:

Characteristics

''Sebastes'' species have bodies which vary from elongate to deep, and which may be moderately to highly compressed with a comparatively large head. Their eyes vary from large to small. They may have spines on the head or these may be absent, if spines are present these can be small and weak to robust and there can be up to 8 of them. They lack a spiny horizontal ridge below the eye. The jaws have many small conical teeth and there are teeth on the roof of the mouth. The single

dorsal fin A dorsal fin is a fin located on the back of most marine and freshwater vertebrates within various taxa of the animal kingdom. Many species of animals possessing dorsal fins are not particularly closely related to each other, though through c ...

is typically strongly incised at the posterior of the spiny portion which contains 12-15 robust, venom-bearing spines and to the rear of these are 9-16 soft rays, The

anal fin Fins are distinctive anatomical features composed of bony spines or rays protruding from the body of a fish. They are covered with skin and joined together either in a webbed fashion, as seen in most bony fish, or similar to a flipper, as see ...

has 2-4 spines and 6 to 11 soft rays. There is a spine in each of the

pelvic fin Pelvic fins or ventral fins are paired fins located on the ventral surface of fish. The paired pelvic fins are homologous to the hindlimbs of tetrapods. Structure and function Structure In actinopterygians, the pelvic fin consists of two ...

s as well as 5 soft rays and these are placed under the

pectoral fin Fins are distinctive anatomical features composed of bony spines or rays protruding from the body of a fish. They are covered with skin and joined together either in a webbed fashion, as seen in most bony fish, or similar to a flipper, as se ...

s. The pectoral fins are large and may be rounded or pointed in shape with 14-22 soft rays, the longest being the central rays. The

caudal fin Fins are distinctive anatomical features composed of bony spines or rays protruding from the body of a fish. They are covered with skin and joined together either in a webbed fashion, as seen in most bony fish, or similar to a flipper, as se ...

is straight to slightly concave. The

lateral line The lateral line, also called the lateral line organ (LLO), is a system of sensory organs found in fish, used to detect movement, vibration, and pressure gradients in the surrounding water. The sensory ability is achieved via modified epithelial ...

may have pored or tubed scales. They vary in size from a maximum total length of in ''S. koreanus'' to in ''S. borealis''.

Distribution

''Sebastes'' rockfish are found in the temperate North and South Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. Rockfish range from the

intertidal zone The intertidal zone, also known as the foreshore, is the area above water level at low tide and underwater at high tide (in other words, the area within the tidal range). This area can include several types of habitats with various species ...

to almost deep, usually living

benthic The benthic zone is the ecological region at the lowest level of a body of water such as an ocean, lake, or stream, including the sediment surface and some sub-surface layers. The name comes from ancient Greek, βένθος (bénthos), meaning " ...

ally on various substrates, often, as the name suggests, around rock outcrops.

Biology

''Sebastes'' rockfish may be long-lived, amongst the longest-living fish on earth, with several species known to surpass 100 years of age, and a maximum reported age of 205 years for '' S. aleutianus''.

Ecotoxicology, radioecology

Like all carnivores, these fish can bioaccumulate some pollutants or

radionuclide A radionuclide (radioactive nuclide, radioisotope or radioactive isotope) is a nuclide that has excess nuclear energy, making it unstable. This excess energy can be used in one of three ways: emitted from the nucleus as gamma radiation; transfer ...

s such as cesium. Highly radioactive rockfish have been caught in a port near Fukushima city, Japan, not far from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, nearly 2 years after the nuclear disaster (ex: 107000 Bq/kg (2013-02-12); 116000 Bq/kg (2013-02-13) and 132000Bq/kg (2013-02-13), respectively 1070, 1160, and 1320 times more than the maximum allowed by Japanese authorities (as updated on April 1, 2012)TEPCO (2013): Nuclide Analysis Results of Fish and Shellfish (The Ocean Area Within 20km Radius of Fukushima Daiichi NPS <1/13>.

Fisheries

''Sebastes'' rockfish are important sport and commercial fish, and many species have been

overfished Overfishing is the removal of a species of fish (i.e. fishing) from a body of water at a rate greater than that the species can replenish its population naturally (i.e. the overexploitation of the fishery's existing fish stock), resulting in ...

. 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'').

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q149077 Sebastini Ray-finned fish genera Sport fish Negligibly senescent organisms Extant Rupelian first appearances Taxa named by Georges Cuvier Rupelian genus first appearances