Medialuna californiensis
Halfmoon
NS
GNR
Collection Details
Specimens
Photos
There are no photos available for this taxon yet.
Records
Taxonomic Hierarchy
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes)
Perciformes (Perciformes, Also Called the Acanthopteri)
Kyphosidae (Sea Chubs)
Medialuna
Medialuna californiensis (Halfmoon)
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.)
and processed using AI-assisted text extraction.
It may contain errors in spelling, punctuation, or formatting.
When citing, please reference the original source rather than this page.
Learn more about our species accounts.
Characters
Body shape: fusiform / normal.
Distribution
Eastern Pacific: Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada, to Gulf of California; rare north of Point Conception in California, USA.
Habitat Associations
Marine. demersal. depth range 0-40 m. Found in: seagrass beds.
Biology
Often occur in rocky areas and in kelp beds. Found from inshore areas to 40 m depth. Feed on seaweed and small invertebrates. Pelagic spawner (Ref. 56049). Also caught with harpoons. The flesh is of excellent quality and is marketed fresh (Ref. 9310).
Max length: 48.0 cm TL; max age: 8 years.
Reproductive mode: dioecism; 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).
Commercial or Environmental Importance
Fisheries: subsistence fisheries.
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.
Fitch, J.E. and R.J. Lavenberg (1975) Tidepool and nearshore fishes of California. California Natural History Guides:38. University of California Press, Berkelley and Los Angeles, California. 156 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.
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.
Comments On Medialuna californiensis