This species is an ambush predator, varying its diet with age, size season and opportunity. They spawn between December and March when the females lay eggs on plants and in mussel clusters in shallow waters and these are guarded by the males until they hatch. They young fish settle in waters close to the shore from the May following hatching. At least some adults migrate to shallow inshore waters in the summer and retreat to deeper waters in winter. References jaok Fish described in 1829 Taxa named by Georges Cuvier Fish of the Pacific Ocean