ling
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Ling ( Molva molva ) |
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| ( Linnaeus , 1758) |
The ling or ling fish ( Molva molva ) is a bone fish from the order of the cod-like (Gadiformes). With a maximum length of up to two meters and a weight of up to 40 kilograms, it is one of the largest representatives of the cod-like fish.
features
The ling has an elongated body and can be up to 1.8 and rarely 2 meters long and up to 40 kilograms. The long head has a terminal mouth and an unpaired barb on the lower jaw that is longer than the diameter of the eye. The back and the flanks are marbled brown, the belly side colored yellow to white.
The two-part dorsal fin has 14 to 15 anterior and 61 to 68 posterior, the anal fin 58 to 61 fin rays . Both the dorsal fins and the anal fin have a light border. The pelvic fins are throaty and thus start directly below the pectoral fins . The blue ling ( Molva dypterygia ) can be easily distinguished by its thicker tail stalk.
distribution
The ling lives in the coastal zones of the eastern Atlantic Ocean from Scandinavia and Iceland to the Biscay , also in the North Sea and the Skagerrak . Occasionally the fish can also be found in the western Mediterranean .
Way of life
The fish have a demersal way of life in areas with water depths of up to 400 meters. As a predatory fish, it feeds on fish ( herring , cod , flatfish ), crabs, cephalopods and starfish.
The spawning season of the ling is from April to June, with the approximately one millimeter large eggs being released at a depth of around 100 to 200 meters and water temperatures of around 7 ° C. The individual Rogner lay up to 60 million eggs that float in the open water. The juvenile fish live on the seabed for the first three years of their life, the males reach sexual maturity with about 80 centimeters and the females with about 90 to 100 centimeters.
Systematics
Along with blue ling ( M. dipterygia ) and Mediterranean ling ( Molva macrophthalma ), ling is 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
- Andreas Vilcinskas : Fish. Central European freshwater species and marine fish from the North and Baltic Seas. BLV-Verlags-Gesellschaft, Munich 2000, ISBN 3-405-15848-6 , p. 198.
