Name:

California Sheephead

Bodianus pulcher

Seasonal Availability:

Year-round

For species-specific updates, please visit this website

Commercial Length or Size Requirements:

13 inches

Flavor Profile

California Sheephead offers a unique and robust flavor profile. Its meat is dense, firm, and mildly sweet with a slight nuttiness, reminiscent of shellfish. This fish possesses a rich, savory taste.

Our favorite ways to cook

Our favorite way is to grill it, whole gilled and gutted: preheat your grill to medium-high heat and cook the fish for about 5-7 minutes per side, or until it flakes easily with a fork. It is a delicious and versatile fish that can be used in a wide range of recipes, from grilled or baked dishes to soups and stews.

Things you probably didn't know about California Sheephead

The California sheephead are also known as the "poor man's lobster" due to their delicious taste, which is similar to that of a lobster. They have a unique diet, consisting of sea urchins, lobsters, mollusks, and crustaceans. This diet is different from that of other common smaller fish species in San Diego and that is because they have large teeth that are adapted to crush the shells of mollusks and crustaceans, allowing them to feed on their favorite foods (and also ours!). They also have a strong jaw and can bite with incredible force, which makes them formidable predators in the ocean. Another interesting feature of California sheephead is their ability to change sex. All of them are born female, and some later develop male reproductive organs as they grow. This phenomenon, called sequential hermaphroditism.