Fish of the Molva (lings) genus of the Lotidae (lings, or rocklings) family of the Gadiformes order of the Paracanthopterygii superorder.
(Blue ling. Photo by © Andrey Dolgov. fishbase.org)
Blue ling (Molva dypterygia) was first described in 1784 by Welsh naturalist Thomas Pennant (1726-1798).
It inhabits the depths of 150-1,000 meters, usually 350-500 meters. It swims near the muddy bottom. The maximum recorded length is 155 cm. The maximum weight is 30 kilograms. It feeds on crustaceans and fish, mainly on gobies, flounders and burbots.
(Blue ling. Photo by © Anders Salesjö. fishbase.org)
It is a permanent rare inhabitant of the Adriatic Sea.
Names of blue ling (Molva dypterygia) in other languages are as follows:
Blauwe leng (Dutch), Γλαυκοποντικόψαρο (Gljafkopondikopsaro) (Greek), Maruca azul (Spanish), Molva azzurra (Italian), Blauleng (German), Molwa niebieska (Polish), Maruca-azul (Portuguese), Голубая мольва (Golubaya moljva) (Russian), Morski manjić (Croatian, Serbian), Modri leng (Slovenian), Lingue bleue (French).