Shiner perch
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Order:	Blenniiformes
Family:	Embiotocidae
Genus:	Cymatogaster
Species:	C. aggregata
Binomial name
Cymatogaster aggregata Gibbons, 1854
Synonyms
Metrogaster lineolatus Agassiz, 1861 Cymatogaster gracilis Tarp, 1952

The shiner perch (Cymatogaster aggregata) is a common surfperch found in estuaries, lagoons, and coastal streams along the Pacific coast from Alaska to Baja California. It is the sole member of its genus. The shiner perch is also known as seven-eleven and shiner seaperch.^[2]

Shiner perches are similar to tule perches, deep-bodied with a dusky greenish back and silvery sides that have a pattern combining fine horizontal bars with three broad yellow vertical bars. Breeding males turn almost entirely black, the barred pattern being obscured by dark speckles. Shiner perches are distinguished from tule perches by having fewer dorsal fin spines, just 8–9 vs the 15–19 of the tule perch. The rayed part of the dorsal fin has 18 to 23 rays. The anal fin has 3 spines followed by 22–25 rays.

Shiner perch can reach a maximum length of 21 centimetres (8.3 in), but are most commonly under 10–15 centimetres (3.9–5.9 in) in total length.^[3]

Shiner perch range from Punta Baja, Northern Baja California, to Saint John Baptist Bay near Sitka in Southeastern Alaska.^[3]

They are one of the most common fish in the bays and estuaries of their range, favoring beds of eelgrass, and often accumulating around piers as well. While typically residing in shallow waters, they have been observed at depths up to 120 metres (390 ft). They can also live in brackish waters.

They primarily feed on zooplankton such as copepods and gammarid amphipods, but have also been observed to feed on bottom species like small crustaceans, marine worms, and mollusks.^[4][5] They also feed on fish eggs.

Due to their small size, there is a very limited targeted fishery for the shiner perch, with an average commercial catch of 270 kilograms (600 lb) per year.^[6] They are often taken incidentally or for bait at piers, and is one of the most, if not the most, commonly caught fish out of west coast piers. The shiner perch is often also used in oriental and other ethnic dishes, fried whole or dried out.^[3]

They are often found with parasitic isopods such as Elthusa californica feeding off of them from their opercular cavity of the gill chamber.

• Peter B. Moyle (2002). Inland Fishes of California. University of California Press. pp. 428–429.
• Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.). "Cymatogaster aggregata". FishBase. April 2006 version.