Jaw teeth strong, canine-like in front, rounded and frequently rather worn teeth behind; teeth on vomer large, reaching back beyond the line of palatine teeth on either side of them.  Rather rounded caudal fin with 22-26 finrays.  Colour body yellowish or bluish-grey, with 9-13 darker cross-bars extending onto base of dorsal fin. 

Spitzbergen southward to White Sea, Scandinavian coasts, Noth Sea, the British Isles, also Iceland and soth-eastern coast of Greenland. Elsewhere, western coast of Greenland, Labrador to Cape Cod, sporadically to Cape Hatteras. Records in the Baltic Sea (east to Rügen and Bornholm Islands), Bay of Biscay and northwestern Mediterranean (Gulf of Genoa). 

 

Benthic, on rocky bottoms, sometimes over sand or mud, at 1-500 m; in trawl catches: mainly at 100-150 m (less than 50 m in White Sea). 

Feeds on hard-shelled, crabs, lobsters, sea-urchins and other echinoderms.

Reproduction: eggs deposited in spherical clumps at about 10-120 m in July-February (May-August in White Sea), larvae hatching January-July, pelagic until 5-6 cm.  

To 125 cm; common 50-90 cm.

Fisheries 

Caught on line gear, with bottom trawls; also with trammel nets. Marketed fresh and frozen; eaten steamed, fried, broiled, boiled, microwaved and baked.