shore rockling
Gaidropsarus mediterraneus (Linnaeus, 1758)
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Open encyclopedia reference
The shore rockling (Gaidropsarus mediterraneus) is a mottled brown, small, elongated fish. This eel-like fish has three barbels on its head, with the second dorsal fin and the anal fin running the length of most of its body. These fins may be viewed moving in a continuous wave motion.
The shore rockling is often confused with the five-bearded rockling (Ciliata mustela) and the larger three-bearded rockling (Gaidropsarus vulgaris), due to their similar colourings, shape, and habitat. As the name suggests, the main visual differences are the five-bearded rockling having five barbels around its mouth, whereas the three-bearded rockling has a significant redness to its brown colouring when compared to the shore rockling. Shore rocklings can also be eaten, as the flesh is very tender.
Shore rocklings live in rocks, feeding on both worms and crustaceans. They are distributed in the eastern Atlantic from the mid-Norwegian coast south to the Straits of Gibraltar and into the Mediterranean Sea, where it is found along the coasts of north-west Africa and southern Europe into the Black Sea.
Wikipedia contributors, Shore rockling; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T04:18:28.397315+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Gaidropsarus mediterraneus (Linnaeus, 1758)
- Name authority
- (Linnaeus, 1758)
- Common name
- shore rockling
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Teleostei
- Order
- Gadiformes
- Family
- Gaidropsaridae
- Genus
- Gaidropsarus
- Extinction status
- Not supplied by this source
Source habitat flags: Marine: yes · Freshwater: no · Terrestrial: no. These do not form a complete habitat description.
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- gigaclassActinopterygii
- superclassActinopteri
- classTeleostei
- orderGadiformes
- familyGaidropsaridae Jordan & Evermann, 1898
- genusGaidropsarus Rafinesque, 1810
- speciesGaidropsarus mediterraneus (Linnaeus, 1758)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Gaidropsarus. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Gaidropsarus granti (Regan, 1903) | GaidropsaridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Arctic rocklingGaidropsarus argentatus (Reinhardt, 1837) | GaidropsaridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| rocklingGaidropsarus vulgaris (Cloquet, 1824) | GaidropsaridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Gaidropsarus insularum Sivertsen, 1945 | GaidropsaridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| threadfin rocklingGaidropsarus ensis (Reinhardt, 1837) | GaidropsaridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Gaidropsarus capensis (Kaup, 1858) | GaidropsaridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Gaidropsarus novaezealandiae (Hector, 1874) | GaidropsaridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Gaidropsarus mauli Biscoito & Saldanha, 2018 | GaidropsaridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=126457 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:6K7M2. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.