Rockfish, common name for any of several hundred of species of fishes that inhabit the rocky bottoms of shallow waters. On the Pacific Coast of the United States the terms rockfish and scorpion-fish are applied to any of the marine spiny-finned fishes constituting the scorpion-fish family. The family is found in all seas but is most abundant in the Pacific Ocean; it contains about 60 genera and about 310 species. Fishes of this family have large heads and wide gill openings and usually have sharp spines supporting the dorsal fin; in some species these spines are used in defense against attackers. Some species, such as the tropical turkeyfishes or lionfishes, have venom glands in each spine. The most deadly of all fish venoms is found in the stonefish, which, when accidentally stepped on, has caused death in humans. Rockfishes are carnivorous, and many bear live young. Most fishes of the scorpion-fish family are edible. A common rockfish of southern California is a venomous species that averages about 30 cm (about 12 in) in length and is colored brown, red, and olive. Among unrelated fishes commonly called rockfishes are the striped bass, the rock bass, and certain groupers (see Bass; Grouper).Rockfish
Scientific
classification: Rockfishes belong to the family Scorpaenidae of the order
Scorpaeniformes. The stonefish is classified as Synanceia verrucosa. The
venomous Californian rockfish is classified as Scorpaena guttata.
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