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Gadus morhua  Linnaeus, 1758

Atlantic cod
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Gadus morhua
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Canada country information

Common names: Atlantic cod, Bacaleau, Bacalao
Occurrence: native
Salinity: brackish
Abundance: | Ref:
Importance: highly commercial | Ref: FAO, 1992
Aquaculture: commercial | Ref: FAO Fishery Information, Data and Statistics Service, 1993
Regulations: | Ref:
Uses: live export: yes;
Comments: Ranges from Nunavut (Ref. 58426) to New Brunswick (Ref. 5951). Also Ref. 1371, 40643.
National Checklist:
Country Information: httpss://www.cia.gov/library/publications/resources/the-world-factbook/geos/ca.html
National Fisheries Authority: https://www.ncr.dfo.ca/home_e.htm
Occurrences: Occurrences Point map
Main Ref: Coad, B.W. and J.D. Reist, 2004
National Database:

Classification / Names

Actinopterygii (ray-finned fishes) > Gadiformes (Cods) > Gadidae (Cods and haddocks)
Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes (gen., sp.) | ITIS | CoL

Common names from other countries

大西洋鳕, Треска атлантическая, Morue de l'Atlantique, ... more

Main reference

Cohen, D.M., T. Inada, T. Iwamoto and N. Scialabba. 1990. (Ref. 1371)
 References | Biblio | Coordinator | Collaborators

Size / Weight / Age

Max length : 200 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 1371); common length : 100.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 1371); max. published weight: 96.0 kg (Ref. 9988); max. reported age: 25 years (Ref. 173)

Length at first maturity
 Lm 63.4, range 31 - 74 cm

Environment

Marine; brackish; benthopelagic; oceanodromous (Ref. 51243); depth range 0 - 600 m (Ref. 1371), usually 150 - 200 m (Ref. 54441)

Climate / Range

Temperate; ? - 15°C, preferred 6°C (Ref. 107945); 83°N - 35°N, 95°W - 86°E (Ref. 1371)

Distribution

North Atlantic and Arctic: Ungava Bay in Canada along the North American coast to Cape Hatteras; North Carolina in the western Atlantic. East and west coast of Greenland; around Iceland; from Barents Sea including the region around Bear Island along the European coast to Bay of Biscay (Ref. 88171).
 Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Introductions

Short description

Dorsal spines (total): 0; Dorsal soft rays (total): 44-55; Anal spines: 0; Anal soft rays: 33 - 45; Vertebrae: 51 - 55. Protruding upper jaw, a conspicuous barbel on the lower jaw, and light lateral line, curved above the pectoral fins. Predorsal distance is less than one third of total length; body depth about 1/5 of total length. Color varies from brownish to greenish or gray dorsally and on upper sides, becoming pale and silvery ventrally. Peritoneum silvery.

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Widely distributed in a variety of habitats, from the shoreline down to the continental shelf. Juveniles prefer shallow (less than 10-30 m depth) sublittoral waters with complex habitats, such as seagrass beds, areas with gravel, rocks, or boulder, which provide protection from predators (Refs. 89383, 89384). Adults are usually found in deeper, colder waters. During the day, form schools and swim about 30-80 m above the bottom, dispersing at night to feed (Ref. 1371, 89385). Omnivorous; feed at dawn or dusk on invertebrates and fish, including young cod. (Ref. 1371). Migrate between spawning, feeding and overwintering areas, mostly within the boundaries of the respective stocks. Migrations >200 km are rare occurrences (Refs. 89386, 89387). Marketed fresh, dried or salted, smoked and frozen; eaten steamed, fried, broiled, boiled, microwaved and baked (Ref. 9988).

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 115185)

  Vulnerable (VU) (A1bd)

Threat to humans

  Harmless



Human uses

Fisheries: highly commercial; aquaculture: commercial; gamefish: yes

Tools

Bio-Quiz | E-book | Field guide | Identification keys | Length-frequency wizard | Life-history tool | Point map | Classification Tree

Special reports

Check for Aquarium maintenance | Check for Species Fact Sheets | Check for Aquaculture Fact Sheets

Download XML

Summary page | Point data | Common names | Photos

Internet sources

BHL | BOLDSystems | Check for other websites | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | DiscoverLife | ECOTOX | FAO(Aquaculture: production, species profile; fisheries: production, species profile; publication : search) | FIRMS (Stock assessments) | GenBank(genome, nucleotide) | GOBASE | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | iSpecies | National databases | Public aquariums | PubMed | RFE Identification | Scirus | Sea Around Us | SeaLifeBase | Tree of Life | uBio | uBio RSS | Wikipedia(Go, Search) | World Records Freshwater Fishing | Zoological Record | Fishtrace

Estimates of some properties based on models

Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82805)
 PD50 = 0.6250 many relatives (e.g. carps) 0.5 - 2.0 few relatives (e.g. lungfishes)

Trophic Level (Ref. 69278)
 4.1   ±0.2 se; Based on diet studies.

Resilience (Ref. 69278)
 Medium, minimum population doubling time 1.4 - 4.4 years (rm=0.2-1.1; also (Ref. 36717))

Vulnerability (Ref. 59153)
 High to very high vulnerability (65 of 100)
Price category (Ref. 80766)
 Medium