Spotted 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

Southern California south to Peru, including the Revillagigedo, Clipperton and Galapagos islands.

Range source: FishBase · Lea and Rosenblatt 2000, CalCOFI Reports 41

The spotted cabrilla's range is listed as southern California to Peru, including the Revillagigedo, Clipperton and Galapagos islands. Southern California is the very edge of it. Before 1997, state and Scripps biologists knew of only 1 California record, and they described the species as rare in the state.

Identification

The spotted cabrilla is a heavy-bodied grouper, pale reddish brown and covered in many small dark brown spots. About 5 faint dark bars slant across its sides. It reaches about 45 inches and 49 pounds.

Natural History

Spotted cabrilla are abundant on patch reefs, where anglers catch them readily. They feed mainly on crustaceans and fishes over rocky and sandy bottoms. In winter they move closer to shore and feed heavily on swarms of pelagic red crabs, the same small red crabs divers saw over the sand at La Jolla Shores in October 2026.

In California

During the 1997 to 1998 El Niño, an angler caught a spotted cabrilla reported at 14 pounds off Port Hueneme, Ventura County, on January 9, 1998. The biologists who reviewed the photo were confident of the identification.

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.