The false jacopever or Cape redfish (Sebastes capensis) is a marine fish belonging to the family Sebastidae

Sebastidae

Sebastidae is a family of marine fish in the order Scorpaeniformes. Their common names include rockfishes, thornyheads and rockcods. Despite the latter name, they are not closely related to the cods in the genus Gadus, nor the rock cod, Lotella rhacina.Not all authorities recognise this family as...

. Found only in waters off the western coast of South Africa

South Africa

The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

, Tristan da Cunha

Tristan da Cunha

Tristan da Cunha is a remote volcanic group of islands in the south Atlantic Ocean and the main island of that group. It is the most remote inhabited archipelago in the world, lying from the nearest land, South Africa, and from South America...

 and southern South America

South America

South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...

, S. capensis lives in depths of 20 to 275 m (65.6 to 902.2 ft). It reaches up to 37 centimetres (14.6 in) in length, and is reddish or brownish with 5-6 pale spots on the upper part of the body. It has extremely prominent eyes. It mainly feeds on mysids

Mysidacea

Mysida is a group of small, shrimp-like crustaceans, an order in the malacostracan superorder Peracarida. Their common name opossum shrimps stems from the presence of a brood pouch, or marsupium, in females. Mysids are mostly found in marine waters throughout the world, but are also important in...

.

Etymology and taxonomic history

The species was originally described by Gmelin

Johann Friedrich Gmelin

Johann Friedrich Gmelin was a German naturalist, botanist, entomologist, herpetologist and malacologist.- Education :Johann Friedrich Gmelin was born as the eldest son of Philipp Friedrich Gmelin in 1748 in Tübingen...

 in 1789 as Scorpaena capensis. It was later reclassified as Sebastichthys capensis. In 1917, it was redescribed by Evermann and Radcliffe

Radcliffe

- Places :England* Radcliffe, Greater Manchester, England** Radcliffe Tower, the remains of a medieval manor house in the town* Radcliffe, Northumberland, England* Radcliffe-on-Trent, Nottinghamshire, EnglandUnited States* Radcliffe, Iowa, USA...

as Sebastes chamaco. The species' common name was derived from the pock-marked acne skin of an old skipper.