Marine Life

California Halibut
(Paralichthys californicus)
Courtesy of Tom Haight

A favorite of California anglers, this voracious predator can grow to a length of five feet. They are long living with females living up to 30 years or more. Their food of choice is anchovies, grunion and croakers but they will feed on anything small enough to swallow. Halibut can be found from the surf zone to an astonishing depth of 600 feet! This species of halibut can be found as far north as Washington to as far south as Baja California. California Halibut tend to migrate into shallow water in winter and early spring, then move into deeper waters in the summer and fall. They possess an impressive mouthful of teeth which can cause damage to a diver's hand if bit while handling.