Fish of the Gaidropsarus genus of the Lotidae (lings, or rocklings) family of the Gadiformes order of the Paracanthopterygii superorder.
(Shore rockling. Photo by © Liam Faisey. cornishkayakangler.weebly.com)
Shore rockling (Gaidropsarus mediterraneus) was first described in 1758 by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus (1707-1778).
It inhabits the depths of 1-450 meters. Usually, it swims at shallow depths up to 60 meters close in shore, near the rocky bottom with aquatic vegetation. The maximum recorded length is 50 cm. It feeds on fish, crustaceans, worms and algae.
(Shore rockling. Photo © ispotnature.org)
It is a permanent infrequent inhabitant of the Adriatic Sea.
Names of shore rockling (Gaidropsarus mediterraneus) in other languages are as follows:
Motelja mesdhetare (Albanian), Галя (Galja) (Bulgarian), Ποντικός (Pondikos) (Greek), Bertorella (Spanish), Motella (Italian), Mittelmeer-Quappe (German), Motela śródziemnomorska (Polish), Laibeque (Portuguese), Средиземноморский налим (Sredizemnomorskiy nalim), Средиземноморская галея (Sredizemnomorskaya galeya) (Russian), Ugorova majka mrka, Ugorova majka mrkulja (Serbian, Croatian), Morska miš (Slovenian), Gelincik balığı (Turkish), Motelle de Méditerranée (French).