Lepidopus caudatus was collected during trawling and long-line surveys carried out in 1996 and 1997 in the Ionian Sea (Eastern-Central Mediterranean). The smallest specimen measured 13.3 cm in total length, the greatest was 163.5 and 150 cm in females and males respectively. The population was almost exclusively sampled within the first 400 m with juveniles mostly distributed on the continental shelf. At depths greater than 400 m both small and large specimens were collected. Commercial trawls collected mostly small and immature specimens. Experimental trawls, with a higher vertical opening, caught a significantly higher proportion of adult specimens, although juveniles represented the most abundant fraction of the stock. The longline only sampled large individuals. The maximum age was 7+ in females and 5 in males. No significant differences were shown between the length-weight relationship of the two sexes. The von Bertalanffy growth parameters were: L∞ = 182.46 ± 3.9 cm, k = 0.30 ± 0.014, t0 = -0.50 ± 0.032 in females and L∞ = 174.27 ± 3.7 cm, k = 0.31 ± 0.013, t0 = -0.53 ± 0.023 in males. The smallest mature specimen measured 92 cm total length in females and 90 cm in males. Mature specimens of both sexes and young-of-the-year individuals were found both in spring and autumn.