Sheephead male

Description:

Male and female sheephead have different color patterns and body shapes. Males are larger, with black tail and head sections, wide, reddish orange midriffs, red eyes and fleshy forehead bumps. Female sheephead are dull pink with white undersides. Both sexes sport white chins and large, protruding canine teeth that can pry hard-shelled animals from rocks. After powerful jaws and sharp teeth crush the prey, modified throat bones (a throat plate) grind the shells into small pieces.

Habitat:

Located at the edge of the Catalina Casino building, the Casino Point Marine Park is Southern California's first city-designated underwater park. Established in 1965 by the City of Avalon as a reserve, Casino Point Marine Park has an abundance of marine life, giant kelp forests, and several shipwrecks to explore. Several artificial reefs have been established to provide additional habitats.

Notes:

All sheephead are born female. Most of them change to males following environmental clues we don’t fully understand. In 1990, Robert Cowen studied sheephead in four sites where the availability of food varied. In the area with the most food, females changed sex at about 13 years old and lived about 21 years. In the area with the least food, females changed sex at five to six years old and lived about nine years. At least in these two areas, the females changed sex about two-thirds of the way through their life spans. Sheephead hunt actively during the day, but at night, as many wrasses do, they move to crevices and caves and wrap themselves in a mucus cocoon. Predators on the hunt can’t detect the fishes’ scent through the mucus covers. Sheephead appear to be asleep, but since fishes don’t have eyelids, we can only assume they’re sleeping.