California sheephead

How it lives

Sheephead hunt by day and shelter in rock crevices at night, wrapped in a mucus cocoon. They usually live on rocky reefs and kelp beds, mostly 3 to 30 m deep, with records down to 150 m. All start life as females and some later change into males, at ages that range from about 5 to 13 years depending on food and local conditions. Breeding runs from late June to early September, when males become territorial. Sexual maturity comes at around age 4, and the oldest recorded fish reached 53 years.

Where it goes

No long migration is described in the sources read. Adults live around rocky reefs and kelp beds and shelter in crevices at night. The range runs from Monterey Bay to the Gulf of California, and sheephead are rarely found north of Point Conception except in warm El Nino periods.

We only draw a journey on the map when scientists have tracked it or clearly documented it. For this animal we have not found one yet.

Populations

Listed as Vulnerable by the IUCN (assessment dated 2006, criteria A2bd), with overfishing as the main threat. California carried out its first stock assessment in 2004. A study of southern California published in 2015 found that fishing reduces the size of sheephead, while marine reserves and effort limits bring back higher density, larger size and more biomass. In Baja California, a 2025 study found larger sheephead inside community-led reserves than in federally managed areas. A total population count is not available in the sources read.