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Species
Morus
IUCN
NCBI
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The cod is probably the best-known fish caught commercially in UK waters. In appearance, the head is rather disproportionately large for the body, with the upper jaw protruding over the lower. The colour of the body can vary depending on the habitat in which the fish is found, but ranges from reddish or greenish where the water is populated by algae, and pale grey where the fish is found in deep water or near a sandy bottom. The cod has a barbel on the end of its chin and, in common with several other members of the family, three dorsal and two anal fins. The tail fluke is square-ended, and the lateral line is noticeable and extends from the point of the gill covers to the centre of the tail root.
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| Rights holder/Author | Copyright Wildscreen 2003-2008 |
| Source | http://www.arkive.org/atlantic-cod/gadus-morhua/ |
Maximum size: 2000 mm TL
Oceanodromous. Migrating within oceans typically between spawning and different feeding areas, as tunas do. Migrations should be cyclical and predictable and cover more than 100 km.
- Riede, K. 2004 Global register of migratory species - from global to regional scales. Final Report of the R&D-Projekt 808 05 081. Federal Agency for Nature Conservation, Bonn, Germany. 329 p. (Ref. 51243)
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| Rights holder/Author | Susan M. Luna, FishBase |
| Source | http://www.fishbase.org/summary/SpeciesSummary.php?id=69 |
There is limited information available on the communication among cod. Atlantic cod are hypothesized to communicate through the production of sound via drumming muscles. Sound production is correlated with mate selection during spawning season. It is hypothesized that the degree to which males are able to produce acoustic sound is positively associated with the overall fitness of the males, with those having larger drumming muscles producing greater sound waves and out-competing others.
Communication Channels: acoustic
Perception Channels: tactile ; acoustic ; chemical
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| Rights holder/Author | ©1995-2013, The Regents of the University of Michigan and its licensors |
| Source | http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/accounts/Gadus_morhua/ |
The Atlantic cod is a fish in crisis. The fish stocks in the Irish Sea have fallen drastically within the last few years. Recent figures compiled and published by the European Environment Agency (EEA) warn that the risk of a collapse of the fish stock in the North Sea is high, and that populations are now outside safe biological limits. The spawning stock biomass (the breeding population of the fish) hit an historic low figure during 2001, and during February and April that year, much of the North Sea was closed to fishing fleets as part of an emergency plan to protect young cod. It is also thought that the spawning stock biomass for the North Sea has been below the 'biomass precautionary approach reference point' - the critical level for sustaining the population - for almost two decades, and this warning also applies to waters adjacent to the North Sea. Throughout its range, the harvesting of young fish before they have been able to reproduce successfully is a serious threat to Atlantic cod.
| License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ |
| Rights holder/Author | Copyright Wildscreen 2003-2008 |
| Source | http://www.arkive.org/atlantic-cod/gadus-morhua/ |
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).
- Cohen, D.M., T. Inada, T. Iwamoto and N. Scialabba 1990 FAO species catalogue. Vol. 10. Gadiform fishes of the world (Order Gadiformes). An annotated and illustrated catalogue of cods, hakes, grenadiers and other gadiform fishes known to date. FAO Fish. Synop. 125(10). Rome: FAO. 442 p. (Ref. 1371)
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| Rights holder/Author | Susan M. Luna, FishBase |
| Source | http://www.fishbase.org/summary/SpeciesSummary.php?id=69 |
200 cm TL (male/unsexed; (Ref. 1371)); max. published weight: 96.0 kg (Ref. 9988); max. reported age: 25 years (Ref. 173)
- Cohen, D.M., T. Inada, T. Iwamoto and N. Scialabba 1990 FAO species catalogue. Vol. 10. Gadiform fishes of the world (Order Gadiformes). An annotated and illustrated catalogue of cods, hakes, grenadiers and other gadiform fishes known to date. FAO Fish. Synop. 125(10). Rome: FAO. 442 p. (Ref. 1371)
- Frimodt, C. 1995 Multilingual illustrated guide to the world's commercial coldwater fish. Fishing News Books, Osney Mead, Oxford, England. 215 p. (Ref. 9988)
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| Rights holder/Author | Susan M. Luna, FishBase |
| Source | http://www.fishbase.org/summary/SpeciesSummary.php?id=69 |
The diet of Atlantic cod is best described as opportunistic because they feed on anything they are capable of capturing. At all life stages, however, they eat primarily other animals. During the larval stage they feed on smaller organisms such as zooplankton. Juveniles feed on shrimp and other small crustaceans. Adult Atlantic cod consume squid, mussels, clams, tunicates, comb jellies, brittle stars, sand dollars, sea cucumbers, and polychaetes, and are also cannibalistic. The choice of prey included in the diet seems to play a role in determining the skin color of cod. Those that feed on crustaceans tend to appear more brownish in color whereas a blue-green pigment may be the result of a diet consisting primarily of fish.
Animal Foods: fish; mollusks; aquatic or marine worms; aquatic crustaceans; echinoderms; other marine invertebrates; zooplankton
Plant Foods: phytoplankton
Primary Diet: carnivore (Piscivore , Eats non-insect arthropods)
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| Rights holder/Author | ©1995-2013, The Regents of the University of Michigan and its licensors |
| Source | http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/accounts/Gadus_morhua/ |
Atlantic cod pass through a series of four life history stages as they develop. Initially they begin as pelagic eggs which are located in harbors, bays, and offshore banks. The eggs are associated with an incubation temperature around 2 to 8.5 degrees Celsius. The eggs are buoyant and remain close to the surface waters. Studies have shown that egg mortality is independent of temperature but increases at lower salinities. Next, the larval stage takes place. Larvae are located in pelagic waters and their growth is correlated with the volume of zooplankton which can feed upon the sac larvae at this stage. During the third stage, juveniles occur in coastal and offshore waters in the summer and deeper waters in the winter. They are tolerant of temperature changes from 6 to 20 degrees Celsius and they often use vegetation as a predator avoidance strategy. The final stage is adulthood. They live at temperatures less than 10 degrees Celsius and primarily inhabit the ocean floor.
- Fahay, M., P. Berrien, D. Johnson, W. Morse. 1999. Atlantic Cod (Gadus Morhua) Life History and Habitat Characteristics. National Ocean and Atomospheric Administration Technical Memorandum, 122-152: 1-35. Accessed October 13, 2005 at http://www.nefsc.noaa.gov/nefsc/publications/tm/tm124/tm124.pdf.
| License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ |
| Rights holder/Author | ©1995-2013, The Regents of the University of Michigan and its licensors |
| Source | http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/accounts/Gadus_morhua/ |
The Atlantic cod is listed in the UK Biodiversity Grouped Action Plan for commercial marine fish. Being a species that is found in international waters, it has proved very difficult to impose restrictions on the number of fish that can be harvested from the sea without reducing fish stocks below the important Safe Biological Figure (SBF) limits. The International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) released figures for the North East Atlantic and Baltic in 2001, which show cod are still being overfished within six of the nine sea areas of the study. Currently, cod caught in Icelandic waters are the only stock regarded as being sustainably fished. In January of 2003, the European Union (EU) revised its Common Fisheries Policy (CFP), but whether this will lead to improvements in the way the fishing industry is regulated remains to be seen. Although the fish that are landed in port are controlled through the rules governing total allowable catch (TAC), the regulations do not limit the numbers of fish actually caught. A boat's crew, having checked the catch and finding either bycatch (non-target fish or other animals) or fish below the legal size, will simply jettison those fish overboard. Most of them will be dead. Many marine biologists argue that regulation alone will not be enough to maintain fish stocks at a sustainable level. The present status of the Atlantic cod stock seems to support this statement. Perhaps the only hope for the future of this fish, and the other commercial species, is the imposition of no-catch zones, including some of the principal migration routes, and areas where fish can spawn undisturbed.
| License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ |
| Rights holder/Author | Copyright Wildscreen 2003-2008 |
| Source | http://www.arkive.org/atlantic-cod/gadus-morhua/ |