Flag Cabrilla

Sightings

2026 season, every one sourced

Photos

From California this season

No photos yet. If you photographed this animal in California this season, post it to the Coastal Bulletin.

Home Range

Where it normally lives

Baja California, Mexico, south to Peru, including the Cocos, Revillagigedo and Galapagos islands.

Range source: FishBase

The flag cabrilla's normal range starts in Baja California, Mexico, and runs south to Peru, with populations at the Cocos, Revillagigedo and Galapagos islands. It lives on rocky reef along the coast, from about 3 to 165 feet deep, and adults are most common in shallow water.

Identification

The flag cabrilla is a small grouper, up to about 24 inches long. Its body is olive green to reddish brown, scattered with irregular white and brown spots and blotches. The dorsal fin gives the fish its name: each membrane carries a white triangle at its edge, and each spine ends in a bright white tip, so the raised fin reads as a row of small white flags. A small black saddle sits on the base of the tail, and the inside of the mouth is red. Young fish have black spots on top of the head.

Natural History

The flag cabrilla hunts alone. It eats smaller fishes during the day and switches to crustaceans at night. It spawns in late summer.

Taxonomy

Rarity

Rarity in the compendium is how often the animal has been reported on the California coast this season, not how rare it is where it normally lives. It moves as new sightings come in.