It has an elongated, marbled brown body, cylindrical at the front and laterally compressed at the back. Its mouth is large, equipped with small, conical teeth; a long barbel hangs from the mandible, and two other short ones are located lateral to the nostrils. It has two dorsal fins: the first is short, the second is very long.
The anal fin is almost as long as the second dorsal fin; the ventral fins are inserted anteriorly to the pectoral fins. The scales are small and covered in mucus. It can reach 60 cm in length and a body weight of 3-4 kg.
It prefers clear, cool, and deep waters. It inhabits the bottom of lakes, remaining hidden during the day and becoming more active at night. It feeds on invertebrates, fish, and their eggs. It breeds in winter, in small groups of individuals, on sandy bottoms. Each female lays hundreds of thousands of eggs that float freely in the water, each bearing an oily droplet. The fry hatch after a month.
Prized for its meat, burbot has been released by fishermen into various lakes in Trentino, even into some high-altitude lakes, without considering the danger this voracious predator posed to resident fish fauna.
Dialect: Bosa .
G. TOMASI, 2004 - The Three Hundred Lakes of Trentino. Ed. Artimedia – Temi, Trento, 535 pp.
