As with many deep-living fish, the lateral line system in grenadiers is well-developed; it is further aided by numerous chemoreceptors located on the head and lips and chemosensory barbels underneath the chin.

The animals are thought to use these muscles to "strum" their bladders and produce sound, possibly playing a role in courtship and mate location.

They are thought to be generalists, feeding on smaller fish, pelagic crustaceans, such as shrimp, amphipods, cumaceans, and less often cephalopods and lanternfish.

They are known to produce a large number (over 100,000) of tiny (1–2 millimetres or 0.039–0.079 inches in diameter) eggs made buoyant by lipid droplets.

The macrourins, in general, are thought to have low resilience; commercially exploited species may be overfished and this could soon lead to a collapse of their fisheries.