Oder Scorpaeniformes Family Family Sebastidae(Rockfishes, rockcods and thornyheads). Longspined rockfish Sebastes longispinis(Matsubara, 1934). max length/20cm TL Korean name/hwin-ggo-ri-bol-lak(흰꼬리볼락) Japanese name/コウライヨロイメバル(kōrai-yoroimebaru) Chinese name/長棘平鮋 D/spine 13, soft ray 13. A/spine 3, soft ray 6. P1/16. LLp/26. Vertebrae/usually 26. gill rakers/18(15–20)
Distribution; Northwest Pacific/West sea and south sea of Korea including Jeju Island, coastal waters south of central Japan, the Yellow Sea coast of China, and it is highly likely that it is distributed as far as Taiwan and the surrounding Chinese coast. General; The body is oval with high depth. Head is large, and the head and body are laterally flattened. The head is heavily armed with nasal, preorbital, postorbital, tympanic, and occipital spines; supraorbital spines are absent. Snout short with pointed tip and length similar to eye diameter. Mouth is attached to the tip of the snout(terminal mouth). Upper jaw slightly longer than lower jaw. The symphyseal knob in the frontal center of the lower jaw is not visible. The maxilla extends backward beyond the vertical of the posterior edge of the eye. The teeth are very small and arranged in bands on the jaws, vomer, and palatine bones. The interorbital space is deeply concave, and the upper edges of the orbits are very elevated.
The dorsal fin is a single fin, with the spines and soft rays connected. The origin of the dorsal fin is slightly in front of the upper edge of the gill cover. The origin of the soft part of the dorsal fin is in front of the origin of the soft part of the anal fin. The second anal fin spine is very long, its length is more than half the head length. The uppermost 1-2 rays and the lower 8 rays of the pectoral fin are unbranched, and the middle 6-7 rays are branched. The pectoral fin is located slightly below the center of the body, and its posterior end reaches the anus(cloaca). The anus is located slightly behind the center of the body. The pelvic fin is located slightly behind the base of the pectoral fin, and its posterior end does not reach the anus. When the caudal fin is narrowed, the trailing edge is truncated, and when it is spread wide, the trailing edge becomes slightly rounded.
The lateral line is complete and distinct, the anterior part slightly shifted dorsally and curved along the outline of the back. The head and body are covered with ctenoid scales but jaws, preorbital bones, snout, interorbital space, lower jaw, and gill membranes are naked(not covered with scales).
Coloring differs depending on the habitat environment. Two irregular, wide vertical bands on body side which are grayish brown, reddish, or dark red and dense black spots on each fin. Overall, it is mottled with dark brown and red colors. Anterior head blackish. The anterior half and posterior edge of the caudal fin yellowish white, and the martins of rest fins are also with yellowish white. It is very similar to Armorclad rockfish(Sebastes hubbsi) except for the absent of whitish colored band on the caudal fin.
Ovoviviparous. Inhabit coastal reefs. Very rarely fished, and there is little data on its ecology. This species is closely related to Sebastes hubbsi, but differs by the longer second anal spine (over half the head length), longer dorsal spines(approximately 0.5 of the head length), and the pale whitish color of the front part of the caudal fin.
|