Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range
Ecology
Marine; bathydemersal; depth range 50 - 700 m (Ref. 56504). Deep-water; 71°N - 24°N, 19°W - 36°E
Eastern Atlantic: northern Norway to Western Sahara including southern Iceland, Faroe Islands, Shetlands and Mediterranean.
Size / Weight / Age
Maturity: Lm ? range ? - ? cm
Max length : 35.0 cm SL male/unsexed; (Ref. 35388); common length : 20.0 cm SL male/unsexed; (Ref. 4458); max. reported age: 16 years (Ref. 35388)
Short description
Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics
Relatively common on the continental shelf and upper slope, probably schools near the bottom. Depth range from 50-500 m (Ref. 35388) and from 288-700 m in the eastern Ionian Sea (Ref. 56504). Feeds on bottom-living polychaetes, mollusks and crustaceans, also on pelagic invertebrates and fishes. Spawns from winter to spring in the Mediterranean and from March to July off the British coasts. Its eggs and larvae are pelagic (Ref. 4773). They become sexually mature at a length of 12-13cm. With a smell like cucumber (Ref. 35388).
Life cycle and mating behavior
Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae
Cohen, D.M., 1990. Argentinidae. p. 235-238. In J.C. Quero, J.C. Hureau, C. Karrer, A. Post and L. Saldanha (eds.) Check-list of the fishes of the eastern tropical Atlantic (CLOFETA). JNICT, Lisbon; SEI, Paris; and UNESCO, Paris. Vol. 1. (Ref. 4458)
IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435: Version 2025-2)
Threat to humans
Harmless
Human uses
Fisheries: minor commercial
Tools
Special reports
Download XML
Internet sources
