Black Rockfish
Black Rockfish (Sebastes melanops) is a saltwater species. The first thing to check: black to dark grey with irregular lighter mottling over the upper body and a pale belly. The look-alike to rule out is Blue Rockfish: blue rockfish have a smoothly rounded anal fin margin, a bluer cast and much less distinct mottling.
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| Scientific name | Sebastes melanops |
|---|---|
| Also called | black bass, black snapper, sea bass |
| Water | Saltwater |
| Group | Rockfish |
| Temperature | Feeds between about 45 and 58 °F. |
How to identify a Black Rockfish
- Black to dark grey with irregular lighter mottling over the upper body and a pale belly.
- An anal fin whose rear margin is straight or slanted forward, not evenly rounded.
- Black speckling on the spiny dorsal fin, and weak head spination compared with most rockfish.
If you would rather not work through a key on a wet deck, photograph the fish and let the app name it — you get the common and the scientific name back, and the record is filed before you release.
Fish it is mistaken for
| Species | How to tell them apart |
|---|---|
| Blue Rockfish | Blue rockfish have a smoothly rounded anal fin margin, a bluer cast and much less distinct mottling. |
| Yellowtail Rockfish | Yellowtail rockfish have a distinctly yellow-green tail and fine brown speckling over a lighter body. |
Side-by-side comparisons
Read the full entry for Blue Rockfish.
Where it lives
The Pacific coast from Alaska to central California. Suspends over nearshore reefs, kelp, jetties and pinnacles, often well up off the bottom rather than on it.
Temperature
Feeds between about 45 and 58 °F.
The conditions that matter
Black rockfish suspend and school, so they are as much a mid-water fish as a bottom one — finding the depth the school is holding at matters more than finding new rock. Because Pacific groundfish rules are frequently depth-based, recording the depth alongside each fish is worth doing for compliance as much as for pattern.
Global Fishing League records 18 weather and water readings against every catch automatically — tide stage, barometric pressure, water temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen, chlorophyll, swell, current, moon phase and more, taken at your GPS position at the moment you log the fish. Over a season that turns a hunch about black rockfish into a pattern you can read.
See every reading recorded with a catch, or the guides to what each reading means.
Size limits, bag limits and seasons
Size limits, bag limits, slot limits and seasons are set by your state wildlife agency — and for many offshore and migratory species by federal regulators — and on many waters they differ from the statewide rule. They also change between seasons. Check the current regulations for the exact water you are fishing before you keep a fish — we do not republish limits here, because a number that is a season out of date is worse than no number.
What the app does do is make your side of it accurate: every catch carries a length measured from the photograph, a GPS position and a timestamp, exportable if you ever need to show your work for a tournament or a record claim. It is also what a Global Fishing League entry is built from — a record that verifies itself, without publishing where you caught the fish.