Marine Life

Black Perch
(Embiotica jacksoni)
Courtesy of Tom Haight

This common perch has the distinction of giving birth to as many as 31 live young and sexually mature males! They range from Fort Bragg to Baja California. Seals, cormorants and other sea birds depend on them as prey. They possess specially developed throat muscles that can separate food, discarding the unwanted in a cough-like exhalation. They feed on bottom- dwelling invertebrates such as shrimp, worms and snails. Reddish-brown in color, they have a blue stripe just above the anal fin and a patch of enlarged scales just behind and below the pectoral fins.