Xiphister mucosus
Rock Prickleback
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)
Stichaeidae (Pricklebacks)
Xiphister
Xiphister mucosus (Rock Prickleback)
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: eel-like. Caudal small and rounded, directed upward; pectorals as minute flaps (Ref. 6885). Greenish black with several dusky white bars on posterior part of body, 2 dark bands diverging back from each eye, each band double with a paler center (Ref. 6885).
Distribution
Eastern Pacific: Port San Juan, southeastern Alaska to Santa Cruz Island, southern California, USA.
Habitat Associations
Marine. demersal. depth range 0-18 m.
Biology
Found in rocky areas, from intertidal to 18 m depth, mostly on exposed coast (Ref. 2850). May remain out of water under rocks or seaweed (Ref. 31184). Feed mainly on algae (Ref. 6885). Oviparous, eggs are laid in several clumps or masses which are guarded by the male (Ref. 58332). Breathe air (Ref. 31184) and can stay out of water for 17-23 hours if kept moist (Ref. 51276).
Max length: 58.0 cm TL; max age: 11 years.
Reproductive mode: dioecism; fertilization: external; guarders (clutch tenders); parental care: paternal. Female lays eggs in a cluster under a rock, male guards the egg mass by wrapping his body around it (Ref. 2850). Also Ref. 101194.
IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern (LC), assessed 2023-11-29. Resilience: Low (tm=5; tmax=11; Fec-9,500).
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.
Hart, J.L. (1973) Pacific fishes of Canada. Bull. Fish. Res. Board Can. 180:740 p.
Lamb, A. and P. Edgell (1986) Coastal fishes of the Pacific northwest. Madeira Park, (BC, Canada): Harbour Publishing Co. Ltd., 224 p.
Boyle, K.S. and M.H. Horn (2006) Comparison of feeding guild structure and ecomorphology of intertidal fish assemblages from central California and central Chile. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 319:65-84.
Comments On Xiphister mucosus