Author: Reinhardt, 1831
Lycodes vahli Reinhardt, 1831
Status in World Register of Marine Species:
Accepted name: Lycodes vahlii Reinhardt, 1831 (updated 2009-06-25)
Diagnosis: body fairly elongate, its depth 8-10% TL at anal origin, covered with scales to bases of pectoral and pelvic fins, also basal half of unpaired fins, but nearly whole back in front of dorsal fin naked. Pectoral fin 10-12% TL; preanal distance 38-41% TL. Lateral line single, ventral, no midlateral branch. Vertebrae 99-119. Colour: young with several light and narrow cross-bands, disappearing with age; adults uniformly brownish, with 1-3 blackish spots on anterior part of dorsal fin; peritoneum black. Size: to 52 cm, usually 25-30 cm.
Habitat: benthic on muddy bottoms at 150-500 m, with bottom temperatures about 2-6 °C and salinities 34-35°/Oo. Food: polychaetes, small molluscs and crustaceans, ophiurids, gephyreans. Reproduction: eggs demersal, few (27-93), 4.5 mm diameter.
Distribution: coasts of Iceland, south-western part of Barents Sea and along Norwegian coast to Skagerrak and northern part of Kattegat. Elsewhere, south-western Greenland southward to Nova Scotia.
Eggs, larvae and young stages. No data.
Otoliths (sagitta). No data.
Subspecies
Lycodes vahli vahli. vertebrae 112-119; south-western Greenland to Nova Scotia.
Lycodes vahli gracilis. vertebrae 98-108; north-eastern Atlantic (Clofnam 170.4.1.1).
Eggs, larvae and young stages. Collett, 1903b: 3 | Jensen, 1904b: 13.
Otoliths (sagitta). No data.