Blue ling
| Blue ling | ||||||||||||
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Blue ling ( Molva dypterygia ) |
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| Molva dypterygia | ||||||||||||
| ( Thomas Pennant , 1784) |
The blue ling ( Molva dypterygia ) is a small species of the genus Molva next to the ling ( Molva molva ). Like this he is a bony fish from the order of the cod-like (Gadiformes).
features
The ling has an elongated body and can be up to 1.55 m long and 30 kg in weight. The lower jaw protrudes from his long head, from which an unpaired beard hangs. The blue ling has relatively large eyes. It has a two-part dorsal fin , the front part of which is only short. The long rear part goes to just before the caudal fin. The anal fin also goes from the anus to just before the caudal fin . The caudal fin is curved on the outer edge. The pelvic fins are throaty and attach in front of the pectoral fins . The blue ling is dark gray on the back and light gray on the belly. Above him lies a blue-gray bronze shimmer (name).
distribution
The blue ling lives in the coastal zones of the Atlantic Ocean from Scandinavia , Iceland and the west coast of the British Isles to the western North Sea and also in the western Mediterranean and the Skagerrak . It is also found on the south coast of Greenland and southeast of Newfoundland on Canada's east coast.
Way of life
The blue ling is a bottom fish that lives at depths of 130 to 1500 meters. There he is chasing redfish , Lumbe , the North Atlantic cod Ling , lantern fish and crustaceans , brittle stars and other soil animals.
He does his spawning business between February and April in a maximum of 5–8 ° C warm water on the shelf south-west and south of Iceland, south and west of the Faroe Islands , north-west of the British Isles and on the Norwegian coast and occasionally on the east coast of Greenland. The blue ling becomes sexually mature at around 6–7 years of age and 80–85 cm in length and can reach an age of over 20 years.
Systematics
The blue ling is next to the ling ( Molva molva ) and the Mediterranean ling ( Molva macrophthalma ) one of three species of the genus Molva . Together with the burbot ( Lota lota ) as the only species of the genus Lota and the tusk ( Brosme brosme ), this forms the family of the burbot (Lotidae).
literature
- Karl Gunnarsson, Gunnar Jónsson, Ólafur Karvel Pálsson; málverk Jón Baldur Hlíðberg: Sjávarnytjar við Ísland . Mál og menning, Reykjavík 1998, ISBN 9979-3-1759-0 . (ib.)
Web links
- Blue ling on Fishbase.org (English)