They are generalist predators with powerful canine teeth that enable them to remove chitons, limpets, and barnacles from rocks. They can also crush and eat mollusks, crabs, and sea urchins. As they grow their diet undergoes change with the smaller fish, of lengths between feeding mostly on amphipods and isopods, while the larger fish prey mainly on bivalves, crabs, and gastropods. It occurs in beds of kelp and over rocky reefs which have some exposure to tides and currents at depths of . These are territorial fish which are long-live, often over 20 years old, and they defend their territories aggressively.
