Hybrid Rockfish?

Tom Nic · Post by **Tom Nic** » Sat Jun 16, 2007 9:15 am

Milton Love says that "hybridization between copper, brown, and quillback Rockfish may occur in Puget Sound".

Could this be one?

It has the facial markings of a copper, but the brown gill spot and the rest of the body look like a brown. I wish I had taken a different angle picture.

<a href="" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1104/554 ... 255c55.jpg" width="500" height="493" alt="CIMG1658"></a>

coachrenz · Post by **coachrenz** » Sat Jun 16, 2007 9:39 am

And I took this photo at Day Island Wall. I think we have decided that it is a quillback, but as with Tom's photo, this one appears to have features of all three, the quillback, copper and brown.

It has the lines under the eyes like a copper, the brown spot on the operculum like the brown and the dorsal fin markings of a quillback.

Tom Nic · Post by **Tom Nic** » Sat Jun 16, 2007 9:45 am

Very Cool Tim!

Nice picture! And the 3 species markings are all there... very interesting!

nwscubamom · Post by **nwscubamom** » Sun Jun 17, 2007 11:24 am

Tom, the yellow eye markings are quite common in Browns. It's not a feature that is exclusive to Coppers. Yours is clearly a Brown.

Tim's is quite interesting in that it's got the very obvious marking on the gill cover, but the rest of his looks extremely Quillback-ish.

The eye markings, again, are not exclusive to Coppers. And in fact, the gill spot is not exclusive to Browns. Coppers can have that as well.

Good observations, both of you! Welcome to advanced Fish ID, gentlemen

- Janna

gcbryan · Post by **gcbryan** » Mon Jun 18, 2007 12:49 am

I associate yellow lips with Copper's as well (rightly or wrongly?).

nwscubamom · Post by **nwscubamom** » Mon Jun 18, 2007 2:50 am

Gray, another good observation! Coppers and Quillbacks both have a yellow colored bottom lip. While Browns don't.