Semicossyphus pulcher

Information about the California Sheephead:

The California Sheephead are native to the kelp forests and open, rocky areas of the Pacific Ocean off the coastline of the US. They are sexually dimorphic, which means their are physical differences between males and females; the females are smaller than the males and are without the distinctive coloration of the males and their bands of red and black with white bellies. Sheephead have powerful jaws used to pry animals from rocks, usually crustaceans or other hard bodied invertebrates. Their teeth are then used to grind up the animal. They are active during the day and usually retreat into a rock crevice during the night. These large fish were once plentiful, but overfishing has caused their number to plummet, and there is now restrictions on how many can be caught. All sheephead are born female, but change their gender as they age. How this process works and why the fish has developed this way is unknown.

The poster is printed on matte, museum-quality paper with Giclée printing quality:

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