live for up to 79 years and they become sexually mature when they reach a total length of around . They are ovoviviparous and the females extrude the larvae in January to August. The pelagic larvae leave the plankton to settle between one and two months after being born. The spines in the dorsal and anal fins are mildly venomous but are also used to wedge the fish in narrow hiding spaces in the reef. The China rockfish is a sedentary species and studies have shown they rarely move more than from their preferred shelter. They have been known to live in the same rock crevices as the Giant Pacific octopus (Enteroctopus dofleini). The larvae feed on plankton and the juveniles prey largely on crustaceans. The adults also eat crustaceans but also prey on brittle stars, mollusks, and small fishes. The predators of the juveniles are sea birds, porpoises, and other fishes, including rockfishes, lingcod, cabezon and salmon. The adults are preyed on by sharks, dolphins, seals, lingcod, and possibly North American river otters (Lontra canadensis). Fisheries China rockfish are an important component of the live fish fishery. There has been no formal stock assessment for this species and it is managed as a species within the Nearshore Rockfish group regulated by the Pacific Fishery Management Council. Commercial fishing methods include hook and line, longline, and trapping. It is also important as a recreational fishing quarry. Stock status A stock assessment of China rockfish conducted in 2015 estimated the stock to be at 28% of unfished level in California, but less depleted in Oregon and Washington, at 62% and 73%, respectively. However, the stock in California waters (which only included the area up to Cape Mendocino) was estimated as showing an increasing trend in abundance, as this area had seen larger reductions in catch than the other areas. References Milton S. Love, Mary Yoklavich, Lyman K. Thorsteinson, (2002), The Rockfishes of the Northeast Pacific, University of California Press, pp. 219–221 Sebastes Taxa named by William Orville Ayres Western North American coastal fauna Fish described in 1854