Fish
Grey gurnard
Eutrigla gurnardus
Eutrigla gurnardus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Triglidae WoRMS 150637
Reference photos
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An elongated, bottom-living fish with a large sloping head and two dorsal fins. The small first dorsal fin carries a large black mark near the top. It is greyish-brown with a red tinge, small white spots on the sides, and the three lowermost pectoral rays detached.
Depth
10-340 m, usually 10-150 m
Size
Up to 50-60 cm, commonly around 30 cm
Habitat
Coastal demersal, on sandy grounds and also rocky or muddy bottoms, from the coastline down to about 140 m
Behaviour
Lives on the bottom and makes croaking sounds; the young are pelagic until about 3 cm long
Diet
I eat
- Crustaceans, mostly shrimps and shore crabs
- Fish, mostly gobies, flatfish, young herring and sand eels
- Small individuals take mostly seabed invertebrates, while adults take mostly free-swimming prey
Eats me
- Atlantic cod, recorded preying on grey gurnard in Norwegian waters
- Haddock, recorded preying on grey gurnard in Norwegian waters
- Conger eel, recorded preying on grey gurnard in Irish waters
Where you'd find it
Found all around Britain and Ireland, so you have a chance of seeing it anywhere on the coast.
Sources
Open-access references behind this page. Every statement on this page was read out of one of them; anything that could not be traced to a source was taken off the page rather than left standing. Each link was checked on the date shown, and confirmed then to be about this species.
Diet composition of Eutrigla gurnardus - FishBase diet records
FishBase
FishBaselink checked 2026-08-30
Grey gurnard (Eutrigla gurnardus)
Marine Life Information Network, Marine Biological Association of the UK
MarLINlink checked 2026-08-30
Eutrigla gurnardus (Linnaeus, 1758)
World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS Editorial Board)
TaxonomyCC BY 4.0link checked 2026-08-30
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