Greenlings can change their color to blend with the surrounding sunlit rock and seaweed. Their scales are very rough and give the body a sandpaper-like texture.
An 1886 description of a greenling comes from naturalist J.K. Lord. He was overcome by its beauty, and said "its sides...rival in beauty many a tropical flower...[and are] adorned with colors not only conspicuous for their brilliancy, but grouped and blended in a manner one sees only represented in the plumage of a bird, the wing of a butterfly, or the petals of an orchid...red, blue, orange, and green are so mingled that the only thing I can think of as a comparison is a floating flower bed, and even the gardener's art, in grouping, is but a bungle contrasted with nature's painting."
Edibility is good.
Range is from the Bering Sea to Southern California.
