If caught, a sea wolf can bite fiercely with its long sharp front teeth; no wonder how it got its name. The benthic fish lives alone and can grow to 1.2 meters in length. It eats molluscs (whelks, large bivalves), echinoderms (sea cucumbers and sea urchins) and crustaceans. Its hind teeth are short and wide, suitable for grinding shellfish. Sea wolves live on rocky bottoms, from 10 to 400 meters deep and therefore are rare along the Dutch coast.