Fish

 

Two male coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) spawners.

Fish play an important role in water environments. They feed on nearly all types of plants and animals, they provide a home for other organisms such as bacteria and crustaceans, and they are eaten by many other types of animals, including many terrestrial species. Their vast numbers and diversity also contributes to their importance. Fish are the most abundant vertebrates in terms of both species and individuals. It is estimated that there are approximately 22,000 species of fish which make up about half of all species of vertebrates on earth—a little more than half of these species are marine (58%).

Over 130 species of fish have been recorded at Point Reyes. Some are protected by the Endangered Species Act, such as the tidewater goby, coho salmon, and steelhead trout. The large numbers of pinnipeds (i.e., seals and sea lions) that haul out at Point Reyes and on the Farallon Islands attract white sharks to these waters.

View Fish of Point Reyes National Seashore species list (70 KB PDF, Adobe® Acrobat Reader® may be needed to view PDFs).

 

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  Coho Salmon and Steelhead Trout

  Coho salmon and steelhead trout use several of the coastal streams within Point Reyes National Seashore throughout their lifecycle.

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  White Sharks at Point Reyes

  The abundant marine life in the waters around Point Reyes attract white sharks to the area.

 

Science & Research Project Summaries

From 2006 to 2018, Point Reyes National Seashore and Pacific Coast Science and Learning Center (PCSLC) staff and communication interns assisted scientists conducting research through the PCSLC and the San Francisco Bay Area Inventory & Monitoring Network to produce a series of Resource Project Summaries, four of which were about fish at Point Reyes. These one- to two-page summaries provide information about the questions that the researchers hoped to answer, details about the project and methods, and the results of the research projects in a way that is easy to understand.

• Coho Salmon and Steelhead Trout Monitoring at Golden Gate National Recreation Area and Point Reyes National Seashore, by Jessica Weinberg, San Francisco Bay Area Network Inventory and Monitoring Program, National Park Service, July 2013 (570 KB PDF)
• Tidewater Gobies at the Giacomini Wetlands, by Michelle O’Herron, National Park Service, January 2010 (133 KB PDF)
• Restoring Salmon and Trout Habitat at East Schooner Creek, Point Reyes National Seashore, by Alison Williams, National Park Service, May 2009 (422 KB PDF)
• Using Physiological and Molecular Ecology for Conservation of Sacramento Perch, by Christa Woodley, Rachel Schwartz, Joseph Cech, Bernie May, University of California, Davis, June 2006 (186 KB PDF)

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