Bocaccio

Bocaccio can be found from Stepovak Bay, Alaska to central Baja California, but is mostly abundant from Oregon to northern Baja California. They have been spotted from various depths from the surface to 1,568 feet (478 m); most live between 150–1,000 feet (46–305 m). Juveniles stay in shallower water because of the protection provided by floating kelp mats or driftwood. Shallow water kelp forests and oil platforms also help these fish avoid danger, as they can use them to dodge and hide from predators. As the fish get older, they to move into deeper, colder water. The Monterey submarine canyon is an ideal place for many marine organisms to inhabit or migrate through, and bocaccio in this canyon can consume multiple marine species such as shellfish (pelagic shrimp and crabs), anchovies, sardines, other small rockfishes, and squid. Adult bocaccio are known to prefer fish, while the juveniles are more opportunistic, and feed on zooplankton like copepods.

The bocaccio is one of the larger rockfish and can grow up to 3 feet (0.91 m) in length, 27.9 lb (12.7 kg) in weight, and live to at least 50 years. A bocaccio that is 12 inches (30 cm) long is around 3–4 years old and a 2-foot (0.61 m) long fish is 7–8 years old. Females grow faster than males and also live longer. There is a difference in maturity rates from north to south. …

The bocaccio rockfish was first formally described in 1854 by the American zoologist William Orville Ayres with the type locality given as California. Some authorities place this species in the subgenus Sebastodes, of which it is the type species. The specific name paucispinis is a compound of paucis meaning "poor", "few" or "insufficient" and spinus meaning "spine" a reference to the smaller number of and weaker spines on head in comparison to the China rockfish (S. nebulosus) which Ayres described in the same paper.