Bluestriped Chub
Kyphosus ocyurus
Also calledRainbow chub, rainbow sea chub
Its listed range reaches central California because of 1 fish collected off Diablo Canyon in 2016. Before this season, that fish was the only California record on iNaturalist.
Sightings
2026 season, numbered oldest first, every one sourced
- #2Oct 18, 20261 reportLa JollaOver sand beside seaweed, with other fishPhotos: Ezra Patricelli, iNaturalist, CC BY-NC 4.0
- #1Oct 18, 20261 reportLa JollaOver sand and seaweed, swimming with other fishPhotos: Kass, iNaturalist, CC BY-NC 4.0
About this fish
What it is, where it comes from, and whether it has been here before
How it lives
The bluestriped chub stays near the surface, from the top of the water down to about 100 feet, along rocky shores, around reefs at offshore islands and out in the open sea. Small groups swim fast along drop-offs, and schools gather around floating logs far from land. Smaller fish keep company with drifting material. Unlike the other sea chubs, it eats plankton as well as algae and small invertebrates.
Where it normally lives
Central California south to Ecuador, including the Galapagos and the mouth of the Gulf of California; also the Marquesas Islands, with strays to Hawaii and Japan.
Its home waters run down the whole Pacific coast of Baja California and south to Ecuador, including the Galapagos Islands, and just into the mouth of the Gulf of California. It also lives at the Marquesas Islands in French Polynesia, and strays have turned up as far away as Hawaii and Japan. A fish collected off Diablo Canyon in central California in 2016 extended the listed range north, which is why California counts as part of it.
Range source: Love and colleagues, 2021 checklist of Pacific coast fishes · Mexican Fish.com · FishBase
In California
On October 18, 2026, 2 divers at La Jolla logged bluestriped chub on iNaturalist, swimming over sand and seaweed alongside other fish. Divers have also told Nautical Nick about sightings in Orange County and at Catalina Island, though none of those reports has come with a photo yet. Before this season, the only California record on iNaturalist was the 2016 fish from Diablo Canyon.
Photos
From California this season
The California photos sit with their numbered sightings above. If you photographed this animal in California this season, send it in.
Identification
How to tell it from the locals
The bluestriped chub is an oval, silvery olive fish with a white belly. A broad, bright blue stripe runs along the middle of each side, with a yellow stripe just below it, and the tail is yellow. A blue band runs along the base of the dorsal fin. It can reach about 28 inches.
Details
Rarity in the compendium is Nautical Nick's call on how likely a diver is to run into the animal on the California coast this season, not how rare it is where it normally lives.