Canaries or Vermilions – How to Tell These Fish Apart

July 8, 2010

Question: What’s the best way to tell the difference between the prohibited canary rockfish and the legal vermilion rockfish? They look so much alike and I don’t want to risk getting a ticket. I’m nervous about trying to keep any of these big red fish I catch in case I mistakenly have a canary rockfish. Suggestions? (Joe L.)

Answer: Canaries and vermilion do look alike at first until you learn some of the subtle differences which will then make them pretty easy to differentiate between. Canaries are the fish you will not be able to keep and here are some of their key characteristics. They are orange to red in color, have a clear line extending along the lateral line from head to tail, are smooth under their jaw (vermilions are rough to the touch), have no black edges to their fins like the vermilions, and have a slightly forked tail fin.

For a good visual comparison of these two species, please go to our website at http://www.dfg.ca.gov/marine/pdfs/canary_id.pdf for a nice chart that will help make these character differences easy to see. Good luck and keep fishing!