(Munkholmen - The Trondheim fjord / 25 meters / 10.03.2003)

Phylum: Chordata

Superclass: Gnathostomata

Class: Actinopterygii

Order: Gadiformes

Family: Gadidae

Scientific name: Raniceps raninus

 

Norwegian: paddetorsk

Distribution: The tadpole fish has been found as far north as Troms. It does not appear to be very common (personally I have 300 dives for each observation), but the reason may be that it hides out in crevices or under rocks. It lives from the intertidal zone and down to 100 meters.

Characteristics: The color is uniformly dark brown, almost black in some cases. The head is a bit flattened. It has a single dorsal fin, increasing in height as it runs all they back to the tail fin. A similar shaped anal fin and the slender body reminds a bit of a catfish. It rarely exceeds a length of 30 cm.

I apologize for the image quality. It is difficult to get decent pictures of the tadpole fish, as it usually hides in tight crevices. You can see the tale of a poor-cod that immediately started to stir up gravel to hide them both. After a few seconds the crevice was filled with dust.

All pictures: