A big, colorful wrasse of the rocky reefs that changes both color and sex as it grows. Every hogfish starts life as a female; the largest become males with a bump on the forehead and long streamers on the fins. It was first described from fish collected at Cabo San Lucas.
A robust, compressed wrasse with a pointed snout and strong canine teeth at the front of both jaws. Females and young males (initial phase) are reddish, grading to yellow toward the rear and the tail, with two dark stripes, often broken, along the upper half of the side. Juveniles look similar but with a yellow base color. Big terminal-phase males are bluish green with a red-brown head, a white lower jaw and a narrow yellowish bar on the middle of the side just behind the pectoral fin; they develop a hump between the eyes and long filaments on the tail lobes and at the back of the dorsal and anal fins.
The Mexican hogfish lives only in the eastern Pacific, from central Baja California and Guadalupe Island through the Gulf of California to northern Chile, including all the offshore islands. It is common on rocky reefs, usually at 5 to 18 m, and has been recorded to about 98 m. It swims alone or in small groups, and at night hogfish crowd into cracks and caves in the rocks to sleep.
It feeds by day on crabs, brittle stars, mollusks and sea urchins. It is a protogynous hermaphrodite: it starts as a female and later becomes a functional male. Males defend temporary mating territories called leks, and fish spawn in distinct pairs.
Theodore Gill described the species in 1862 from fish collected at Cape San Lucas. On the next page of the same paper he named another 'species', Harpe pectoralis, also from Cabo San Lucas; it is now treated as the same fish.
Source ↗Diplotaenia comes from the Greek diploos (twofold) and taenia (band), for the two dark stripes on juveniles and females.
Source ↗Every Mexican hogfish starts out female. The change to male happens over a narrow size range, which suggests it is driven partly by social conditions and partly by genetics.
Source ↗In a study of hogfish behavior, male Mexican hogfish spent much less time feeding than females, because their mating success depends on time spent on social and courtship activity.
Source ↗After dark, hogfish gather in cracks and caves in the rock to sleep.
Source ↗The approved IGFA all-tackle record is 1.93 kg (4 lb 4 oz) from Panama, 2023. A 3.26 kg fish from Isla Magdalena, Mexico, caught in July 2026, was listed as pending in October 2026.
Source ↗The Mexican hogfish is commonly seen on rocky reefs, and it has been photographed by divers around Los Cabos, so it is a fish for snorkelers and divers as much as for anglers. Big streamer-finned males are easy to recognize by their red-brown head and white chin.
Anglers catch it near shore and from the beach while bottom fishing with cut bait close to rocky structure; local catch records include fish from Punta Palmilla and Cabo Real. It is a strong fighter that dives for the rocks. Most local anglers release it. Sport fishing is not allowed inside Cabo Pulmo National Park.
Edible and sold fresh in parts of its range, but in Los Cabos it is not highly regarded as a food fish and is usually released.
| Daily limit (NOM-017-PESC-1994) | Up to 5 per angler per day, within the 10-fish total |
|---|---|
| Mexico (NOM-059-SEMARNAT-2010) | Not listed |
| IUCN Red List | Least Concern (assessed 2007) |
| IGFA all-tackle record | 4 lb 4 oz (1.93 kg), Los Buzos, Panama, 2023 (a 7 lb 3 oz fish from Isla Magdalena, Mexico, was pending in 2026) |
| Cabo Pulmo National Park | Sport fishing not allowed |
The bumphead parrotfish (Scarus perrico) also has a hump on the forehead, but it is green to blue-green with a beak of fused teeth, a blunt tail and no fin streamers. The California sheephead (Bodianus pulcher), a close relative that lives mostly farther north on Baja's Pacific coast and in the western and central Gulf, has a black head and black rear body with a pink to red middle and no long fin filaments. Initial-phase Mexican hogfish are easy to tell by the reddish front, yellow rear and two dark stripes.
Both, at different times. All hogfish start as females, and some later change into males, which develop the forehead hump and long fin streamers.
It is edible and sold in some places, but in Los Cabos most anglers release it.
On rocky reefs, usually between 5 and 18 m deep. It is commonly seen there, so it is one of the easier big reef fish to find.
Top illustration: Top Anglers. Photos: iNaturalist contributors, credited on each photo.
Pangas and small boats that work the beaches, points and rocky reefs. From $698 with license included.
