Pacific cod
{{Short description|Species of fish}}
{{Speciesbox
| fossil_range = {{Fossil range|Pleistocene |recent}}{{cite journal |last1=Harington |first1=C.R |title=A Late Pleistocene Steller sea lion (Eumetopias jubatus) from Courtenay, British Columbia: its death, associated biota, and paleoenvironment |journal=Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences |date=2004 |volume=41 |issue=11 |pages=1285–1297 |doi=10.1139/e04-061 |bibcode=2004CaJES..41.1285H |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/237169237}}
| name = Pacific cod
| image = Gadus macrocephalus.png
| image_caption =
| taxon = Gadus macrocephalus
| authority = Tilesius, 1810
| synonyms = *Gadus pygmaeus Pallas, 1814
- Gadus ogac Richardson, 1836
- Gadus ovak Reinhardt, 1837
- Gadus ogat Krøyer, 1847
- Gadus auratus Cope, 1873
- Gadus brandtii Hilgendorf, 1875
| synonyms_ref = {{FishBase|Gadus|macrocephalus|month=February|year=2018}}
}}
The Pacific cod (Gadus macrocephalus) is a species of ray-finned fish in the family Gadidae. It is a bottom-dwelling fish found in the northern Pacific Ocean, mainly on the continental shelf and upper slopes, to depths of about {{convert|900|m|ft|-2|abbr=on}}. It can grow to a length of a meter or so and is found in large schools. They feed on clams, worms, crabs, shrimp, and juvenile fish.{{Cite web |last=Fisheries |first=NOAA |date=2024-09-06 |title=Pacific Cod {{!}} NOAA Fisheries |url=https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/species/pacific-cod#:~:text=Pacific%20cod%20school%20together%20and,,%20shrimp,%20and%20juvenile%20fish. |access-date=2024-12-03 |website=NOAA |language=en}} It is an important commercial food species and is also known as gray cod or grey cod, and grayfish or greyfish. Fishing for this species is regulated with quotas being allotted for hook and line fishing, pots, and bottom trawls. Fossils have been found in Canada near a Steller Sea lion fossil dating to the Pleistocene.
Description
It has three separate dorsal fins, and the catfish-like whiskers on its lower jaw. In appearance, it is similar to the Atlantic cod. A bottom dweller, it is found mainly along the continental shelf and upper slopes with a range around the rim of the North Pacific Ocean, from the Yellow Sea to the Bering Strait, along the Aleutian Islands, and south to about Los Angeles, down to depths of {{convert|900|m|ft fathom|sigfig=1|abbr=on}}. It may grow up to {{convert|1|m|in|-1|abbr=on}} in length and weigh up to {{convert|15|kg|lb|abbr=on}}. It is found in huge schools.[http://www.fao.org/fishery/species/3011/en Gadus macrocephalus (Tilesius, 1810)] FAO, Species Fact Sheet. Retrieved April 2012.
Molecular genetic analyses strongly suggest that Pacific cod and Greenland cod (Gadus ogac) from Greenland–Arctic Ocean are the same species and that G. ogac should be a junior synonym of G. macrocephalus.{{Cite journal | last1 = Carr | first1 = S. M. | last2 = Kivlichan | first2 = D. S. | last3 = Pepin | first3 = P. | last4 = Crutcher | first4 = D. C. | title = Molecular systematics of gadid fishes: Implications for the biogeographic origins of Pacific species | doi = 10.1139/z98-194 | journal = Canadian Journal of Zoology | volume = 77 | pages = 19–26 | year = 1999 }} Today, ITIS and the Catalogue of Life list Gadus ogac as synonym of G. macrocephalus.Catalogue of Life: [https://www.catalogueoflife.org/data/taxon/6JV2L Gadus macrocephalus].
Fisheries
File:Pacific cod, capture production, thousand tonnes, 1950-2022.svg{{Cite web |title=Fisheries and Aquaculture - Global Production |url=https://www.fao.org/fishery/en/collection/global_production?lang=en |access-date=2024-05-06 |website=Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)}}}}]]
In the Northeast Pacific catches of Pacific cod by the United States trawl fishery and joint-venture fisheries increased from less than 1,000 tonnes in 1979 to nearly 91,000 tonnes in 1984 and reached 430,196 tonnes in 1995. Today, catches are tightly regulated and the Pacific cod quota is split among fisheries that use hook and line gear, pots, and bottom trawls.
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Conservation status
The Salish Sea population of Pacific cod is a U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service Species of Concern, one of those species about which the U.S. government's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has some concerns regarding status and threats, but for which insufficient information is available to indicate a need to list the species under the U.S. Endangered Species Act (ESA).[http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/species/concern/ Species of Concern] NOAA
File:Pacific cod larvae.jpg| {{center|Pacific cod larva}}
File:Young Pacific cod.jpg| {{center|Young Pacific cod}}
Pacific cod caught on jigging gear.jpg| {{center|Adult Pacific cod caught on jigging gear}}
As food
File:Bon dara.JPG|Cod gills eaten during Obon festival
File:Daegu-tang 1.jpg|Korean cod soup
File:Daegu-bol-jjim.jpg|Korean braised cod heads
See also
Notes
{{Reflist}}
References
- {{ITIS |id=164711 |taxon=Gadus macrocephalus |access-date=19 March 2006}}
- {{FishBase|genus=Gadus|species=macrocephalus|year=2005|month=November}}
External links
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20160405030117/http://www.fisherieswiki.org/species/show/11 Pacific cod-Gadus macrocephalus fishery profiles] Status of Pacific cod fisheries, summarised in FisheriesWiki
{{cod topics|state=expanded}}
{{commercial fish topics}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q783575}}
{{Authority control}}
Category:Fish of the United States
Category:Taxa named by Wilhelm Gottlieb Tilesius von Tilenau