Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range
Ecology
Marine; demersal; depth range 0 - 556 m (Ref. 117245). Polar; -2°C - 13°C (Ref. 4698); 84°N - 43°N, 180°W - 180°E (Ref. 117245)
Arctic, Northwest to Northeast Atlantic: to Gulf of St. Lawrence in Canada and rarely Maine, USA. Northeast Atlantic: eastern coasts of Greenland, Iceland, northern coast of Norway to White and throughout Barents Sea to Spitzbergen and Novaya Zemlya (Ref. 4698).
Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age
Maturity: Lm 9.0 range ? - ? cm
Max length : 30.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 9707)
Dorsal spines (total): 10 - 12; Dorsal soft rays (total): 14 - 17; Anal spines: 0; Anal soft rays: 15 - 19. Back dark, flanks with dark blotches forming two blackish-brown bands, irregular line of dark spots below lateral line; belly light, yellowish in females, with roundish white spots in males; dorsal fin with light and dark stripes, caudal, anal and pectoral fins light, the last with a yellow tip and with 4-5 transverse lines of dark spots (Ref. 4698).
Body shape (shape guide): elongated.
Burrows into sand and sand-mud bottoms with salinities of 32-35 ppt, sometimes as low as 16-30 ppt (Ref. 4698). Benthic (Ref. 58426). Feeds on small benthic amphipods and polychaetes (Ref. 4698).
Robins, C.R. and G.C. Ray, 1986. A field guide to Atlantic coast fishes of North America. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, U.S.A. 354 p. (Ref. 7251)
IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435: Version 2025-2)
Threat to humans
Harmless
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