Kelp Greenling
Hexagrammos decagrammus
Males have blue-white spots on their face:
(1-2: San Carlos Beach, Monterey / 3: Whaler's Cove, Point Lobos / 4-5: Monastery Beach, Carmel-By-The-Sea)
Females have yellow fins:
(1,3: Monastery Beach, Carmel-By-The-Sea / 2: San Carlos Beach, Monterey)
This is a juvenile:
(1: Coral Street, Monterey)
These are pretty skittish, and harder to approach.
Lingcod
Ophiodon elongatus
(1: San Carlos Beach, Monterey / 2-3,6-7: Whaler's Cove, Point Lobos / 4-5,8: Bluefish Cove, Point Lobos)
These commonly have facial parasites:
(1: San Carlos Beach, Monterey / 2: Whaler's Cove, Point Lobos)
Juveniles are smaller and blotchier. But very hungry:
(1-2: Monterey State Beach, Monterey)
These are lingcod eggs. If you look closely, you can see eyeballs:
(1: Monastery Beach, Carmel-by-the-Sea)
These are pretty mellow and easy to get close to.
Painted Greenling
Oxylebius pictus
(1,6-7: San Carlos Beach, Monterey / 2,4: Del Monte Beach, Monterey / 3,5: Whaler's Cove, Point Lobos / 8: Monastery Beach, Carmel-by-the-Sea)
Mature males are often very dark:
(1: San Carlos Beach, Monterey)
This greenling is guarding its eggs: (pinkish, to upper left):
(1: Monterey State Beach, Monterey)