Girella nigricans
Opaleye
Collection Details
Specimens
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Records
Taxonomic Hierarchy
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes)
Perciformes (Perciformes, Also Called the Acanthopteri)
Kyphosidae (Sea Chubs)
Girella
Girella nigricans (Opaleye)
Description
This species account was compiled from
FishBase (Froese, R. and D. Pauly. Editors. 2025. FishBase. World Wide Web electronic publication. www.fishbase.org, version 04/2025.)
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Characters
Body shape: short and / or deep.
Distribution
Eastern Central Pacific: San Francisco in California, USA to southern Baja California, Mexico.
Habitat Associations
Marine. benthopelagic. depth range 2-30 m. Found in: seagrass beds.
Biology
A resident intertidal species with homing behavior (Ref. 32612). Can leave tide pools if aquatic conditions become inhospitable (Ref. 31184). Also found near or over rocks and in kelp beds up to about 30 m depth. Feed mainly on seaweed, occasionally takes invertebrates. Form dense schools in spring in kelp beds. Pelagic spawner (Ref. 56049). Breathe air when out of water (Ref. 31184). Considered an important game fish and may incidentally be caught in commercial fishing activities (Ref. 9310). Marketed fresh (Ref. 9310).
Max length: 66.0 cm TL; max age: 10 years.
Reproductive mode: dioecism; fertilization: external; nonguarders (open water/substratum egg scatterers); parental care: none. Pelagic spawner (Ref. 56049).
IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern (LC), assessed 2007-05-23. Resilience: Medium (tm=2.5; tmax=10).
Commercial or Environmental Importance
Fisheries: commercial; gamefish.
References
Eschmeyer, W.N., E.S. Herald and H. Hammann (1983) A field guide to Pacific coast fishes of North America. Boston (MA, USA): Houghton Mifflin Company. xii+336 p.
Masuda, H. and G.R. Allen (1993) Meeresfische der Welt - Groß-Indopazifische Region. Tetra Verlag, Herrenteich, Melle. 528 p.
Sommer, C. (1995) Kyphosidae. Chopas. p. 1195-1200. In W. Fischer, F. Krupp, W. Schneider, C. Sommer, K.E. Carpenter and V. Niem (eds.) Guia FAO para Identification de Especies para lo Fines de la Pesca. Pacifico Centro-Oriental. 3 Vols. FAO, Rome.
Barry, J.P. and M.J. Ehret (1993) Diet, food preference, and algal availability for fishes and crabs on intertidal reef communities in southern California. Environ. Biol. Fishes 37(1):75-95.
Clements, K.D. and J.H. Choat (1997) Comparison of herbivory in the closely-related marine fish genera Girella and Kyphosus. Mar. Biol. 127:579-586.
Shanks, A.L. and G.L. Eckert (2005) Population persistence of California Current fishes and benthic crustaceans: a marine drift paradox. Ecol. Monogr. 75:505-524.
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