Fish Doctor: Gymnelus viridis (Fabricius, 1780)
The reason for the common name is unknown
Size
- 30 cm
Color & Characteristics
- Uniformly colored brown; mottled; or with broad, mottled or solid dark reddish brown or bluish black bands extending from dorsal fin to anal fin
- Bands, when present, broader and less numerous than in G. hemifasciatus
- Ocelli (eyelike spots) ringed in white often present on dorsal fin in either sex
- Dorsal fin origin above posterior half of pectoral fin; pectoral fin rays usually 11-13
Habitat
- Predominantly Arctic
- Benthic, from intertidal area to depth of 318 m, typically < 100 m
- Found on mud, sand, and gravel bottoms under debris, prostrate blades of kelp (Laminaria, Agarum), rocks, and other cover
Feeding
- Prey mainly on gammarid amphipods, polychaetes, copepods
- Adults also eat bivalve siphons, mysids, caprellid amphipods
- Eaten by seals, seabirds, cods and other fishes
Life cycle
- Spawn late August to September; 20-106 large (1.8-5.2 mm), adhesive eggs deposited on bottom
- Larvae demersal
- Females mature at 90 mm in length or greater; few (10%) mature in any given year
- Adults attain 12 or more years of age
Page Author: CW Mecklenburg & TA Mecklenburg
Updated: March 5, 2011
