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Fish in the Channel Region

For hundreds of years, scientists and amateur naturalists have studied birds, reptiles, insects and other terrestrial forms of life and their ecosystems. However, the underwater world and its marine life have been virtually hidden from view until the advent of SCUBA a little more than 50 years ago. Today the world's oceans remain one of the last natural mysteries to be extensively explored and studied.

Let's take a look at some of the most common fish seen in the Channel – and a glimpse of those rarely ever seen...

Click on each fish listed below to see a color photograph.

Commonly seen fish

California sheephead ( Semicossyphus pulcher )
Senorita (Oxyjulis californica )
Garibaldi ( Hypsypops rubicunda )
Opaleye ( Girella nigricans )

Less commonly seen fish

Kelp rockfish ( Sebastes atrovirens )
Black perch ( Embiotoca jacksoni )
Bluebanded goby ( Lythrypnos dalli )
Zebra goby ( Lythrypnos zebra )
California scorpionfish ( Scorpaena guttata )

The rarely seen fish

Pacific barracuda ( Sphyraena argenta )
Giant sea bass ( Stereolepis gigas )

And the very rarely seen fish

Yellowtail ( Seriola lalandi )
Snubnose sculpin ( Orthonopias triacis )

This list of fish has been culled from the results of the Great American Fish Count where divers volunteer to devote their time each year to counting and reporting the fish they observe under the water.
For a list of all of the top 40 most frequent fish identified in the channel Islands National Marine sanctuary, take a look at their GAFC data chart.