Grunion Grunion Grunion are two fish species of the genus Leuresthes: the California grunion, "L. tenuis", and the Gulf grunion, "L. sardinas". They are sardine-sized teleost fishes of the New World silverside family Atherinopsidae, found only off the coast of California, USA, and Baja California, Mexico, where the species are found on both the Pacific Ocean and Gulf of California coasts. Many people enjoy catching grunion at events called "grunion runs." Grunion are known for their unusual mating ritual wherein at very high tides, the females come up on to sandy beaches where they dig their tails into the sand to
Grunion regulations, the resource seems to be maintaining itself at a fairly constant level. The coastal Indians in California harvested grunion during spawning runs. Archeologists have found fossil grunion otoliths (tiny, bonelike particles or stony platelike structures in the internal ear of lower vertebrates) at various Indian campsites. Grunion were mentioned by Spanish explorer Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo in his ship's log dated around 1542. Scientists first identified grunion in San Francisco Bay in 1860. Frank Zappa wrote a song named "Grunion Run" (originally released as a single by The Hollywood Persuaders), as has Jonathan Richman ("Grunion Run" on his album "I,