Lingcod is a sport fish and a commercial fish served in many restaurants. They are large fish and spend most of their time at the bottom of the ocean. Lingcod, are known to swim and feed far above the ocean floor in the midst of kelp forests, as well. The lingcod is an aggressive predator of smaller fish. They are relatively high on the food chain within the protection of the kelp.
Also a sportfish, the sheephead is a bottomfish. They enjoy the protection of the kelp forest. Sheephead are often found around any type of bottom structure such as reefs, pilings or shipwrecks. These types of structures leave them more exposed to anglers and predators in large part because they are visible.
Like most sculpin, the snubnose sculpin is small -- just 2 to 4 inches long. They have notably large heads and smaller, tapered bodies. It is not a sport fish. Snubnose sculpin, like most small ocean fish, are the prey of larger fish. Like nearly all fish that call kelp forests home, it is equally home in the protection of a reef.
The blue rockfish is a sport fish that is most likely to occupy mid-depth in a kelp forest, making them more accessible to fishermen but not necessarily prey. Blue rockfish are known to gather in large schools in protected structures all along the Pacific Coast. They are known in part for the sharp, potentially hazardous spines in their dorsal fins.
