Common ling

Last updated

Common ling
Molva molva Gervais.jpg
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Gadiformes
Family: Lotidae
Genus: Molva
Species:
M. molva
Binomial name
Molva molva
Molva molva dis.png
Molva molva range map.
Synonyms
  • Gadus molvaLinnaeus, 1758
  • Molva vulgaris Fleming, 1828
  • Gadus raptor Nilsson, 1832
  • Molva linnei Malm, 1877
  • Lota mola Moreau, 1881

The common ling (Molva molva), also known as the white ling or simply the ling, is a large member of the family Lotidae, a group of cod-like fishes. It resembles the related rocklings, but it is much larger and has a single barbel. This species is unrelated to the pink ling, Genypterus blacodes , from the Southern Hemisphere. The common ling is found in the northern Atlantic, mainly off Europe, and into the Mediterranean Basin. It is an important quarry species for fisheries, especially in the northeastern Atlantic, although some doubts exist as to the sustainability of the fisheries. As an edible species, it is eaten fresh, frozen, or dried, but also preserved in lye, while the roe is a delicacy in Spain.

Contents

Description

The common ling is the longest and one of the largest of the cod-like fish, the Gadiformes, which can reach lengths of 200 cm and weights of 30 kg. It is long and slender [3] with a small head and small eyes and a large mouth, which has large teeth, [4] with the upper jaw projecting beyond the lower jaw, which bears an obvious sensory barbel. Of the two dorsal fins, the anterior dorsal fin is short, having 14–15 fin rays, [5] with a rounded profile, [3] while the posterior dorsal fin is much longer with 61–68 fin rays [6] and is uniform in height and is similar in length to the anal fin. [4] The anal fin is also elongated and has 58-64 fin rays. The vertebral count of this species is between 63 and 65 vertebrae. The caudal peduncle and the pelvic fins are short, with the pelvic fin not reaching past the pectoral fins. The dorsum is a marbled greenish-brown, sometimes reddish-brown on the most upper part, [7] lightening on the flanks and underside. A distinct white edge is seen on the anal and dorsal fins and they have a dark spot at their posterior end. However, the spot on the anterior dorsal fin is more conspicuous than that on the posterior dorsal fin. The juvenile fish tend to be lighter in colour than adults and are often marked with pale purplish iridescent lines. [5] A common ling measuring 6 ft (180 cm) in length was caught off Shetland on 24 February 2013. [8] This is the largest ling ever caught on rod and line in British waters. [9]

Video of a common ling

Distribution

The common ling is a North Atlantic species found in the further eastern coast of Canada, southern Greenland, Iceland, and the north-eastern Atlantic from the Barents Sea, around the coasts of the UK, becoming scarcer towards the south, and north-western Europe, [10] south to the Straits of Gibraltar and into the north-western coasts of the Mediterranean Sea. [6] It is rare in the Mediterranean [11] and in the North Sea, where it occurs as far east as the Skagerrak and Kattegat. [12]

Habitat and biology

The common ling is a demersal species that can be found over rocky substrates from 15 to 600 m or more in depth; it is most common between 100 and 400 m. The juveniles, less than 2 years old, are coastal, occurring in depths of 15–20 m, and pelagic; at 3 years, they migrate to deeper areas. Sexual maturity is attained at 5 years for males, at a length of around 80 cm and 5 or 6 years for females when they are between 90 and 100 cm in length. The spawning period runs from March to July [6] and the eggs and larvae are pelagic. [4] Each female may carry 20 to 60 million eggs. The main spawning areas are found at depths of 200 m from the Bay of Biscay to the Norwegian Sea, at depths of 100 to 300 m off southern Iceland, and at 50 to 300 m in the Mediterranean Sea. They grow rapidly, gaining 8–10 cm in length per year, a 1-year-old fish has a typical length of 20 cm, 2-year-olds 31–35 cm. The females grow at a faster rate than the males. The maximum recorded lifespan is 10 years for males and 14 for females, at which age they attain a length around 200 cm. [6]

Common ling is mainly a solitary and benthic species, which hides among rocks, crevices, and wrecks in deep water, [5] although they are often free swimming in deep water. [4] They are mainly piscivorous and their main prey include species such as Trisopterus esmarkii , Atlantic cod, Atlantic herring, and flatfish, but they also feed on crustaceans (e.g. European lobsters), cephalopods, and echinoderms (e.g. starfish). [6] [5]

Human uses

Lings being prepared in Mollosund, Sweden, in 1899 Langorna skoljas i Mollosunds fiskelage - Nordiska museet - NMA.0034483.jpg
Lings being prepared in Mollösund, Sweden, in 1899
A large common ling caught by an angler Big Molva molva.jpg
A large common ling caught by an angler
A large ling caught in the North Atlantic A big ling caught in the North Atlantic.jpg
A large ling caught in the North Atlantic

The ling is edible; it is marketed in fresh, salted, or dried forms, and used as fishmeal. [7] The salted roe of the ling is considered a delicacy in Spain and is known as huevas de maruca. [13] Ling can be made into lutefisk . [14] The common ling is targeted by commercial fisheries using trawls, although long lines are used in some mainland European- and Faroese-based fisheries. [15] This is a deep-water species and its swim bladder is badly damaged by being brought up to the surface from the depths; the advice for sport anglers is, therefore, that boat-caught ling should not be returned to the sea and that they should stop fishing when enough have been caught for the table. The stock is thought to be reasonably good, [10] but the IUCN has stated that no data are available on the population size or any population trends, that the population in the Mediterranean Sea may be marginal, with the major portion of its global range in the Atlantic. So, no data are available to allow a determination the status of the ling beyond data deficient. [11] Ling is regarded as a "fish to avoid" for consumers by the Marine Conservation Society because it is trawled. [16] In 1999, the total catch of common ling reported to the Food and Agriculture Organization was 53,870 tonnes and the countries with the largest landings were Norway with 19,215 tonnes and the United Kingdom with 11,350 tonnes. [7]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cod</span> Common name for the demersal fish genus Gadus

Cod is the common name for the demersal fish genus Gadus, belonging to the family Gadidae. Cod is also used as part of the common name for a number of other fish species, and one species that belongs to genus Gadus is commonly not called cod.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gadiformes</span> Order of fishes

Gadiformes, also called the Anacanthini, are an order of ray-finned fish that include the cod, hakes, pollock, haddock, burbot, rocklings and moras, many of which are food fish of major commercial value. They are mostly marine fish found throughout the world and the vast majority are found in temperate or colder regions while a few species may enter brackish estuaries. Pacific tomcods, one of the two species that makes up the genus Microgadus, are able to enter freshwater, but there is no evidence that they breed there. Some populations of landlocked Atlantic tomcod on the other hand, complete their entire life cycle in freshwater. Yet only one species, the burbot, is a true freshwater fish.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Haddock</span> Species of fish

The haddock is a saltwater ray-finned fish from the family Gadidae, the true cods. It is the only species in the monotypic genus Melanogrammus. It is found in the North Atlantic Ocean and associated seas, where it is an important species for fisheries, especially in northern Europe, where it is marketed fresh, frozen and smoked; smoked varieties include the Finnan haddie and the Arbroath smokie.

<i>Boreogadus saida</i> Species of fish

Boreogadus saida, known as the polar cod or as the Arctic cod, is a fish of the cod family Gadidae, related to the true cod. Another fish species for which both the common names Arctic cod and polar cod are used is Arctogadus glacialis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grenadiers (fish)</span> Subfamily of fishes

Grenadiers or rattails are generally large, brown to black gadiform marine fish of the subfamily Macrourinae, the largest subfamily of the family Macrouridae. Found at great depths from the Arctic to Antarctic, members of this subfamily are amongst the most abundant of the deep-sea fish.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Macrouridae</span> Family of fishes

Macrouridae is a family of deep sea fish, a diverse and ecologically important group, which are part of the order of cod-like fish, the Gadiformes. The species in the Macrouridae are characterised by their large heads which normally have a single barbel on the chin, projecting snouts, and slender bodies that taper to whip-like tails, without an obvious caudal fin but what there is of the caudal fin is often confluent with the posterior dorsal and anal fins. There are normally two dorsal fins, the anterior dorsal fin is quite high, the posterior quite low but is longer and takes up a greater proportion of the fish's of the back, species in the subfamily Macrouroidinae have a single dorsal fin. The long anal fin is almost as long as the second dorsal fin is nearly as long as the posterior dorsal, and sometimes it is longer. The pelvic fin is inserted in the vicinity of the thorax and normally has 5-17 fin rays but are absent in Macrouroides. The body is covered in small scales and if they have a photophore, it is usually on the midline of the abdomen just in front of the anus. The bioluminescence of these fish is produced by symbiotic bioluminescent bacteria. The structure of the skull has been used to show their placing in the Gadiformes, but they differ from the typical cods in that they possess one stout spine in the anterior dorsal fin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shore rockling</span> Species of fish

The shore rockling is a mottled brown, small, elongated fish. This eel-like fish has three barbels on its head, with the second dorsal fin and the anal fin running the length of most of its body. These fins may be viewed moving in a continuous wave motion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">European pilchard</span> Species of fish

The European pilchard is a species of ray-finned fish in the monotypic genus Sardina. The young of the species are among the many fish that are sometimes called sardines. This common species is found in the northeast Atlantic, the Mediterranean, and the Black Sea at depths of 10–100 m (33–328 ft). It reaches up to 27.5 cm (10.8 in) in length and mostly feeds on planktonic crustaceans. This schooling species is a batch spawner where each female lays 50,000–60,000 eggs.

<i>Merluccius merluccius</i> Species of fish

Merluccius merluccius, the European hake, is a merluccid hake of the genus Merluccius. Other vernacular names include Cornish salmon and herring hake. It is a predatory species which was often netted alongside one of its favoured prey, the Atlantic herring, thus the latter common name. It is found in the eastern Atlantic from the Norway and Iceland south to Mauritania and into the Mediterranean Sea. It is an important species in European fisheries and is heavily exploited with some populations thought to be being fished unsustainably.

The Panama hake, also known as the dwarf hake, is a merluccid hake found off the west coast of the Americas from Del Mar, California, to Ensenada de Tumaco, Colombia.

<i>Coelorinchus caribbaeus</i> Species of fish

Coelorinchus caribbaeus, the blackfin grenadier, is a member of the family Macrouridae. It is a marine benthopelagic rattail. It has a wide range in the western tropical Atlantic. It lives in depths of 200 meters to 700 meters.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thickback sole</span> Species of fish

The thickback sole, also known as the bastard sole and lucky sole, is a species of flatfish from the family of true soles, the Soleidae. It is found in the eastern Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea, it is a quarry for fisheries in the Mediterranean.

<i>Trachyrincus scabrus</i> Species of fish

Trachyrincus scabrus, the roughsnout grenadier or Mediterranean longsnout grenadier, is a species of bathydemersal marine fish from the subfamily Trachyrincinae, part of the family Macrouridae. It is found in the eastern Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean.

Merluccius australis, the southern hake, is a species of fish from the family Merlucciidae, the true hakes. It is found in the southern Pacific and Atlantic Oceans with two disjunct populations, one around southern South America and the other in the waters around New Zealand.

Merluccius polli, the Benguela hake, is a species of fish from the family Merlucciidae, the true hakes. It is found in the tropical waters of the eastern Atlantic Ocean off the west coast of Africa.

Merluccius senegalensis, the Senegalese hake, is a species of fish from the family Merlucciidae, the true hakes. It is found in the sub tropical waters of the eastern Atlantic Ocean off the north western coast of Africa.

<i>Gadella maraldi</i> Species of fish

Gadella maraldi, the gadella or morid cod, is a species of fish in the family Moridae from the warmer waters of the north eastern Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea.

The spearsnouted grenadier is a species of fish in the family Macrouridae.

The bigeye rockling is a species of fish in the family Lotidae.

Lyconus brachycolus is a species of hake fish in the family Merlucciidae.

References

  1. ↑ Fernandes, P.; Cook, R.; Florin, A.; Lorance, P.; Nielsen, J. & Nedreaas, K. (2015). "Molva molva (Europe assessment)". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2015: e.T198593A45132914. Retrieved 14 August 2023.
  2. ↑ Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.) (2018). "Molva molva" in FishBase. February 2018 version.
  3. 1 2 "Molva molva (Linnaeus, 1758)". National Museums of Northern Ireland. Retrieved 12 April 2018.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Alwyne Wheeler (1992). The Pocket Guide to Salt Water Fishes of Britain and Europe (1997 ed.). Parkgate Books. p. 56. ISBN   1855853647.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Rowley, S. J. (2008). Tyler-Walters H.; Hiscock K. (eds.). "Ling (Molva molva)". Marine Life Information Network: Biology and Sensitivity Key Information Reviews, [on-line]. The Marine Biological Association of the UK. Retrieved 12 April 2018.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 Daniel M. Cohen; Tadashi Inada; Tomio Iwamoto & Nadia Scialabba, eds. (1990). VOL.10 GADIFORM FISHES OF THE WORLD (Order Gadiformes) An Annotated and Illustrated Catalogue of Cods, Hakes, Grenadiers and other Gadiform Fishes Known to Date (PDF). Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. pp. 64–65. ISBN   92-5-102890-7 . Retrieved 2 April 2018.
  7. 1 2 3 "Species Fact Sheets Molva molva (Linnaeus, 1758)". Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations Fisheries and Aquaculture Department. Retrieved 12 April 2018.
  8. ↑ "Giant fish weighing more than 67lbs reeled in off Shetland". BBC . Retrieved 2013-02-26.
  9. ↑ "UK Boat Caught Records". British Sea Fishing. Retrieved 11 December 2015.
  10. 1 2 "Ling". British Sea Fishing. Retrieved 13 April 2018.
  11. 1 2 Di Natale, A.; Molinari, A.; Őztűrk, B. & Srour, A. (2011). "Molva molva (Mediterranean assessment)". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2011: e.T198593A9044399. Retrieved 14 August 2023.
  12. ↑ J. C. Hureau (ed.). "Fishes of the NE Atlantic and the Mediterranean". Marine Species Identification Paortal. ETI Bioinformatics. p. Ling (Molva molva). Retrieved 12 April 2018.
  13. ↑ "Delicias gastronómicas típicas de Barbate y la costa de Cádiz" (in Spanish). Sobre PlayasdeTrafalgar.com. Retrieved 13 April 2018.
  14. ↑ Karl Diehl (4 April 2018). "What is the Scandinavian Food Lutefisk?". The Spruce. Retrieved 13 April 2018.
  15. ↑ Report of the Working Group on the Biology and Assessment of Deep-sea Fisheries Resources (WGDEEP), 24 April–1 May 2017, Copenhagen, Denmark. ICES CM 2017/ACOM:14. International Council for the Exploration of the Sea . 2017. 702 pp
  16. ↑ "Sustainable seafood at a glance" (PDF). Marine Conservation Society. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 March 2018. Retrieved 12 April 2018.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.