Walleye Surfperch
Hyperprosopon argenteum

Physical Description

• Has an oval, vertically flattened body.
• Has a small head with very large eyes and a small, upwardly slanted mouth.
• Silver body coloring, with faint dark gray coloration on top of back and black tips of their fins.
• Juveniles have narrow golden vertical bars on their sides. 

Range

• Vancouver Island, British Columbia to Point San Rosarito, Baja California, Mexico.

Habitat

• Live in shallow water like bays.
• Live in sandy beaches, near rocks, around piers, and in the surf.

Reproduction

• They bear live young.
• They mate in pairs in early winter.
• Gestation lasts up to one year, with each female giving birth to 5-12 young that are 1.5 inches each. Larger females produce larger litter sizes.

Diet

• Small crustaceans, amphipods, copepods, terrestrial moth flies.
• Visual nocturnal hunter, hence its large eyes.

Predators

• California halibut is their main predator.
• They are also eaten by bottlenose dolphins, various seabirds, and harbor seals.

Interesting Facts

• They are often found in dense schools of hundreds of fish.

Sources: California Department of Fish and Wildlife; Pierfishing.com; Fishbase; Moring 1984; Hobson and Chess 1986; Mexican-Fish.com

Photo: Ken Jones