| Family: |
Gaidropsaridae (Rocklings) |
| Max. size: |
41 cm TL (male/unsexed); max. reported age: 9 years |
| Environment: |
demersal; marine; depth range 20 - 650 m, oceanodromous |
| Distribution: |
Eastern Atlantic: from Norway, Greenland and Iceland south to British Isles and northern Bay of Biscay, including the North Sea and the southern Baltic Sea (70°N to 20°N). Western Atlantic: from Greenland to northern Gulf of Mexico (Ref. 125219). Reported from Estonia (Ref. 33247). |
| Diagnosis: |
Dorsal spines (total): 0-0; Anal spines: 0-0. One barbel on chin, one on tip of snout, and one at each of the anterior nostril. First dorsal fin ray very elongate, followed by a row of small, fleshy filaments. Color varies from dusky to pale. |
| Biology: |
Sedentary bottom dwellers on muddy sand between patches of hard substrate, or on the soft, smooth ground of deep sinks on the continental slopes of both sides of the North Atlantic. Feed on flatfishes, amphipods, decapods, copepods, mysids, shrimps, isopods and other small crustaceans. Spawn in the Baltic Sea (Ref. 35388). Mixed with soups and other products hot-smoked (Ref. 1371). |
| IUCN Red List Status: |
Least Concern (LC); Date assessed: 10 July 2012 Ref. (130435)
|
| Threat to humans: |
harmless |
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