Name: Kelp greenling, Greenling
Scientific Name: Hexagrammos decagrammus (Pallas, 1810)
Family: Hexagrammidae
Group: Bony fish
Class: Fish
Size: 51-100 cm.
This fish's scientific name decagrammus comes from Greek, meaning '10 lines'. The kelp greenling was so named because it has the impressive number of 10 lateral stripes. It is a coastal fish that lives on the bottom, on rocks, sand and particularly, kelp beds. The females prefer inshore shallow waters, while the males live at greater depths, up to 46 m. They are territorial and solitary animals, which only come together to mate. The females deposit their blue-coloured eggs in nests that the males defend until hatching.
Photo by:
Abílio Leitão
Oceanário Location
Temperate Pacific
