Dark Dusky Rockfish

The body of S. ciliatus usually range from dark blue to black all across their body. There are significant deposits of pigment around the tail and midlateral areas. S. ciliatus normally has 28 vertebrae. It has a slightly less prominent symphyseal knob than S. variabilis and its anal fins are more rounded. Juvenile S. ciliatus have head spines that are not found on adult S. ciliatus, indicating that these spines are lost during the transition to adulthood. The von Bertalanffy growth function is used to explain fish growth as a function of age of the fish. This growth model shows that the growth parameters were similar for both sexes, as well as for all habitats. A distinctive trait that differentiates female S. ciliatus from other females of other rockfish species is that the maximum length of female S. ciliatus is closer to that of males.

the species occurs in the North Pacific Ocean, distributed in aggregations across northern Japan to British Columbia. Sebastes ciliatus are found in large numbers in the Gulf of Alaska, especially around submarine canyon openings and deep ocean banks. Most adults of S. ciliatus are found at a depth of around 100-200m. Throughout the development of S. ciliatus, each stage of development correlates with a respective habitat. Larger and older rockfish of this species are often located at deeper depths, unlike their smaller and younger counterparts. The light dusky rockfish is more commonly found on the outer continental shelf and upper slope at depths of 675m and is rarely found in nearshore marine habitats. The darker colored form of dusky rockfish is more commonly found in nearshore habitats and is usually not found at depths beyond 160m. In areas where the distributions of both species, S. ciliatus and S. variabilis overlap, S. variabilis is located at greater depths where there are stronger currents, whereas S. ciliatus are found living among kelp, Macrocystis, along with S. melanops.