[2] The fourbeard rockling is a long, slender fish named for its four barbels, one of which is on the chin and the others on the snout.

The dorsal surface is generally brownish with sometimes some irregular darker blotches at the posterior end.

[3] The fourbeard rockling is found in the northwestern Atlantic Ocean from northern Gulf of Mexico to Newfoundland and western Greenland, and in the northeastern Atlantic Ocean from the Bay of Biscay to Iceland and the Barents Sea, the western Baltic Sea and occasionally in the Gulf of Finland.

[5] The fourbeard rockling is a bottom-dwelling fish which feeds on crustaceans, polychaete worms, molluscs and other invertebrates.

[5] It usually breeds between February and August, releasing the spawn in deep water after which the eggs float towards the surface.