The quillback rockfish (Sebastes maliger), also known as the quillback seaperch, is a species of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the subfamily Sebastinae, the rockfishes, part of the family Scorpaenidae. This species primarily dwells in salt water reefs. The average adult weighs 2–7 pounds (0.9 – 3 kg) and may reach 1 m (3 feet) in length. Quillback rockfish are named for the sharp, venomous quills or spines on the dorsal fin. Their mottled orange-brown coloring allows them to blend in with rocky bottom reefs. The quillback rockfish eats mainly crustaceans, but will also eat herring. They are solitary and minimally migratory, but not territorial, and give birth to live young (viviparous). They are a popular sport fish, generally caught in cold water 41–60 m deep, but also to subtidal depths of 275 m. Taxonomy The quliiback rockfish was originally described in 1880 as Sebastichthys maliger by the American ichthyologists David Starr Jordan and Charles Henry Gilbert with the type locality given as the Farallon Islands off San Francisco, California. Some authorities place this species in the subgenus Pteropodus, of which it is the type species. The specific name maliger is a compound of malus which means "mast" and iger meaning "to bear", a reference to the long spines of the dorsal fin separated by deep notches in the fin membranes. Description The quillback rockfish have a head protected by strong spines, the nasal, preocular, postocular, tympanic and parietal spines are present while there are no supraocular, coronal and nuchal spines. There are 13 spines and between 12 and 14 soft rays in the dorsal fin with the anal fin having 3 spines and 6 or 7 soft rays. The spines in the dorsal fin are very long and the membranes between the spines are deeply incised. The overall colour of the body is brown to black broken on anteriorly by yellow to white spotting and glitching extending downwards from the back. The colour becomes progressively darker posteriorally. The dorsal fin spines are white or pale yellow but mau have dark brown or black markings. Inn some areas this species shows brown or orange speckling on the head which reaches from the nape to underneath the pectoral fins. The quillback rockfish has a maximum recorded total length of and weight of . Distribution and habitat The quillback rockfish lives along the Pacific coast from the Gulf of Alaska to the