Southern California fish guide
Fish Guide
Pick a fish to see its field marks, habitat, tackle, bait, and the California rules to check before you keep it.
Pacific Bluefin TunaStart with a featured game fishHow this guide is sourced20 complete guides
Identification, habitat, and regulations are tied to CDFW and NOAA records. The guide set was reviewed July 28, 2026, with live rule links inside every fish guide.
Featured game fish
Tap a fish for identification, tactics, and regulations
Pacific Bluefin Tuna
Thunnus orientalis
A large, highly migratory open-ocean predator. The short pectoral fin, dark back, silver-spotted belly, and yellow finlets separate it from the other tunas encountered off Southern California.
Pacific Yellowfin Tuna
Thunnus albacares
A warm-water oceanic tuna distinguished by metallic blue-and-silver countershading, a yellow side stripe, yellow finlets, and the long bright-yellow dorsal and anal fins of adults.
Yellowtail
Seriola dorsalis
A powerful eastern Pacific jack that shifts between nearshore structure and offshore water. Read the yellow tail, the clean dark-over-light body, and the day-feeding pattern before choosing a plan.
Pacific Mahimahi
Coryphaena hippurus
Dorado, mahi-mahi, and dolphinfish are names for the same fast-growing offshore predator. Read the long dorsal fin, deeply forked tail, tall forehead, and electric blue-green-gold color together.
White Seabass
Atractoscion nobilis
Despite the name, white seabass is California's largest croaker. Read the long silver body, large mouth, belly ridge, dark side specks, and black pectoral-base mark together.
Pacific Bonito
Sarda chiliensis
A fast coastal member of the tuna-and-mackerel family, Pacific bonito is read by its streamlined body, small finlets, and dark oblique stripes across the upper back.
Pacific Barracuda
Sphyraena argentea
An unmistakably long coastal predator once the right features line up: pointed snout, extended jaw, separated dorsal fins, silver sides, and a deeply forked tail.
Pacific Skipjack Tuna
Katsuwonus pelamis
A compact warm-water tuna recognized by four to six dark horizontal stripes on the silvery belly, a purplish-blue back, short fins, and rows of finlets behind the dorsal and anal fins.
California Halibut
Paralichthys californicus
A large-mouthed flatfish usually found with both eyes on the left side, mottled brown upper surface, white blind side, and a lateral line that arches sharply above the pectoral fin.
Calico Bass
Paralabrax clathratus
Southern California's structure-oriented kelp bass. Learn the white checkerboard blotches, the equal central dorsal spines, and the difference between bass and rockfish before making a keep-or-release decision.
Barred Sand Bass
Paralabrax nebulifer
The live count's Sand Bass label maps here: a Southern California bass read by dark vertical bars, scattered pale blotches, a large mouth, and a notched continuous dorsal fin.
Other reported fishBottom fish, reef fish, and protected identification guides9 guides
Cabezon
Scorpaenichthys marmoratus
A massive-headed, scaleless reef fish with mottled camouflage, fleshy cirri above the eyes, broad fan-like pectoral fins, and a mouth that reaches near the eye.
California Scorpionfish
Scorpaena guttata
The live count's Sculpin label maps to California Scorpionfish, not a true sculpin. Treat every dorsal, anal, and pelvic spine as venomous and identify the mottled red-brown, big-headed reef fish without bare-hand contact.
California Sheephead
Bodianus pulcher
A Southern California wrasse whose appearance changes with sex and age. Adult males show a black head and tail, red middle, white chin, and a pronounced forehead; females and juveniles look different.
Giant Sea Bass (Black Seabass)
Stereolepis gigas
The live Black Seabass label maps to protected Giant Sea Bass. This is a no-take identification and release dossier: recognize the huge robust body, rounded tail, low continuous dorsal, and dark spotted juvenile pattern before the fish reaches the rail.
Halfmoon (Blue Perch)
Medialuna californiensis
The Southern California landing label Blue Perch commonly refers to Halfmoon. Confirm the deep blue-gray body, small mouth, long dorsal fin, and strongly forked tail before treating the count label as identification.
Lingcod
Ophiodon elongatus
A large-mouthed North Pacific reef predator with an elongated mottled body, sharp canine teeth, and one long dorsal profile split into spiny and soft-rayed sections.
Ocean Whitefish
Caulolatilus princeps
A Southern California reef fish with a clean blue-gray and silver profile, small mouth, long low dorsal fin, and strongly forked tail. It is a tilefish, not a freshwater whitefish.
Pacific Porgy
Calamus brachysomus
A rare Southern California count-category fish near the northern edge of its range. Read the deep silver-bronze body, small mouth, continuous spiny dorsal, and strongly forked tail—and verify the unusual catch carefully.
Rockfish
Sebastes spp.
Rockfish is a landing-count category, not one fish. This dossier teaches the shared silhouette, the identification traps, and the regulation checks needed before narrowing a catch to species.
All Southern California fish guides
Game fish lead the gallery. Every other reported fish remains available with the same identification and regulation guidance.