Quillback rockfish are so named due to their extremely sharp, very long dorsal spines.
These “gnarly” looking fish are very heavy bodied, prominently spined members of the scorpionfish family. They display yellow to orange blotches on the forward half of the body that extend up through the spinous dorsal fin and over the head, which are underlaid by various shades of brown. Sometimes brownish-orange speckles mark the face and head.
This fish are solitary in nature and thought to occupy the same, very small local area throughout their possible 95 year life span. Quillbacks are partial to high relief rocky areas with much refuge area.
As bottom dwellers, they consume a variety of crustaceans, but have been known to use the water column to prey on small fishes. This species lives from the Kenai Peninsula in Alaska to the Anacapa Passage of southern California and can grow to be 24 inches in length.
