Cymatogaster aggregata (shiner surfperch) has a relatively wide distribution along the west coast of North America, stretching from southern Alaska, to Baja California, Mexico. As a highly opportunistic suction feeder, a large range of different food items are found in specimens from different regions. Shiner surfperch often migrate to shallow water estuaries during the spring and summer to breed and bear young (Woods 2007), and seasonal changes in their size distributions in various habitats often reflect these seasonal migrations (Atrim 1981). Like other perches, they are viviparous, giving live birth to about 20-24 young per year (Woods 2007, Avise & Lui 2011).

References

Atrim, B.S. 1981. Habitat and food resource utilization of three species of embiotocids in Elkhorn Slough, Monterey Bay, California. MSc Thesis. California State University, Fresno. 1-92.

Avise, J. C. and Liu, J-X. 2011. High degree of multiple paternity in the viviparous Shiner Perch, Cymatogaster aggregata, a fish with long-term female sperm storage. Marine Biology, 158:893–900.

Woods, P.J. 2007. Habitat-dependent geographical variation in ontogenetic allometry of the shiner perch Cymatogaster aggregata Gibbons (Teleostei: Embiotocidae). Journal of Evolutionary Biology, 20:5:1783-1798.