Raniceps raninus

Author: (Linnaeus, 1758)

Raniceps raninus (Linnaeus, 1758)

Status in World Register of Marine Species:
Accepted name: Raniceps raninus (Linnaeus, 1758) (updated 2009-06-25)

Diagnosis: first dorsal finrays 3, second dorsal finrays 60-66; anal finrays 53-60. Vertebrae 45-48. Colour: uniformly dark brown with blue cast, lips light. Size: to 30 cm SL, usually 25 cm.

Habitat: shallow water, inshore, at 10-15 m, rarely to 100 m. Behaviour: benthic, solitary, local migrations. Food: benthic crustaceans, molluscs, worms, fish. Reproduction: from July to September, near shore, in 50 m or less.

Distribution: north-eastern Atlantic from Trondheim Fjord, Skagerrak, Kattegat, Mechlenburg Bay (rarely), to Bay of Biscay.

Eggs, larvae and young stages. Schmidt, 1907a: 4, pl. I (fig. 9-13) | Ehrenbaum, 1909: 289, fig. 104.
Otoliths (sagitta). Fryd, 1901: 28 | Scott, 1906: 68, pl. IB (fig. 1-8), pl. IV (fig. 6) | Shepherd, 1916: fig. 157 (8) | Frost, 1926: 488, pl. XXII (fig. 22) | Sanz Echeverría, 1926: 159, fig. 67, 1935: 263, pl. XXX (fig. 16).