Females and males mature at age three to five years (61–75 cm) and two years of age (45 cm), respectively. An adult male can be distinguished externally from a female by the presence of a small, conical papilla behind the anal vent. Up to age two, males and females grow at similar rates, with both reaching an average length of 45 cm. After age two, females grow faster than males, with the growth of males tapering off at about age eight, and females continuing to grow until about age 12 to 14. Lingcod live a maximum of about 14 years for males and 20 years for females, reaching a maximum size of approximately 90 cm and 120 cm, respectively. Off Alaska, many reach 70 pounds (32 kilograms). Lingcod are voracious predators, feeding on nearly anything they can fit in their mouths, including invertebrates and many species of fish, such as herring, Clupea harengus, salmon and Pacific hake, Merluccius productus. One of their favorite foods are smaller octopuses, and they will also readily devour large rockfish. Lingcod that survive the larval stages have few predators themselves, and are vulnerable mainly to marine mammals, such as sea lions and harbor seals.