Fish Archives - Pier Fishing in California

Marin Rod & Gun Club Pier aka Camiccia Family Memorial Pier — San Rafael

Private Pier — Fishing License Required There was a time, and it seems more and more like an ancient time, when hunting and fishing was practiced by a majority of the population. Every family seemed to have a fishing rod sitting in the closet or…

Bat Ray

Eagle Rays: Family Myliobatididae Species: Myliobatis californica (Gill, 1865); from the Greek words myl (a tooth or molar), io (an arrow or poison), batis (a skate or ray) and the Latin word Californica (referring to location). Apparently called aetobatus californica at one time in California:…

Redwood City Marina Fishing Pier

Late in 2021, I received word that the Redwood City Marina Pier was undergoing a total rebuild. Given that the original pier had been constructed way back in 1959, it made sense. I began to follow news about the pier and decided I would attend…

Pacific Glasseye

Phylum: Chordata — Class: Actinopterygii (ray-finned fish)— Order: Perciformes (perch like)— Family: Priacanthidae (bigeyes or catalufas)— Genus: Heteropriacanthus (Fitch and Crooke, 1984) Species: Heteropriacanthus carolinus (Cuvier, 1829); from the Greek heteros (different), prion (saw), and akantha (thorn) and the Latin carolinus (in reference to geographic…

Largemouth Blenny

Phylum: Chordata — Class: Actinopterygii (ray-finned fish) — Order: Perciformes (perch like)— Family: Labrisomidae (blennies) — Genus: Labrisomus Species: Labrisomus xanti (T. N. Gill, 1860); from the Greek words labrax (a fish) and soma (body), and xanti (meaning unclear). Alternate Names: Rock Blenny. Commonly found…

Swell Shark

Cat Sharks: Family Scyliorhinidae Species: Cephaloscyllium ventriosum(Garman, 1880); from the Greek words cephalo (with a head) and scyllium (like a dog or monster) and the Latin ventr (referring to the belly). Alternate Names: Catshark, puffer shark and balloon shark. Called bocaccio (bigmouth) shark by commercial…

Silver Surfperch

Picture courtesy of Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife Surfperches: Family Embiotocidae Species: Hyperprosopon ellipticum (Gibbons, 1854); from the Greek root words hyper (above) and prosopon (face, from the upward direction of the face), and the Latin word ellipticum (elliptical, referring to the outline of…

Longfin Sanddab

Lefteye Flounders: Family Bothidae Species: Citharichthys xanthostigma (Gilbert, 1890); from the Greek word citharichthys (a fish that lies on its ribs or side) and xanthostigma (yellow colored with a pointed bone—referring to the long fins). Alternate Names: Sanddab, soft flounder, Catalina sanddab. Called lenguado alón…

Sharpnose Seaperch

Surfperches: Family Embiotocidae Species: Phanerodon atripes (Jordan & Gilbert, 1880); from the Greek root words phaneros (meaning evident) and odons (tooth) and the Latin words atri (entrance) and pes (base of). Family Embiotocidae, subfamily Embiotocinae. Alternate Names: Blackfoot seaperch and sharpnose surfperch. In Mexico called…

Señorita

Wrasses: Family Labridae Species: Oxyjulis californica (Gunther, 1861); from the Greek words oxy (sharp, for sharp nosed fish) and julis (an old world genus of wrasses), and californica (from California, the location of the first fish studied). Alternate Names: Kelp fish, kelp wrasse, butterfish, iodine…