Gadidae
| Gadidae Temporal range: Oligocene–Recent [1] |
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| Atlantic cod, Gadus morhua | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Gadiformes |
| Family: | Gadidae |
| Genera | |
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Gadidae is a family of marine fish, included in the order Gadiformes. It includes the cod, haddock, whiting, and pollock.
Most gadid species are found in temperate waters of the northern hemisphere, although there are some exceptions. They are generally medium sized fish, and are distinguished by the presence of three dorsal fins on the back and two anal fins on the underside. Most species have barbels on their chin, which they use while browsing on the sea floor. Gadids are carnivorous, feeding on smaller fish and crustaceans.[1]
Gadids are highly prolific, producing several million eggs at each spawning. This contributes to their high population numbers, which, in turn, makes commercial fishing relatively easy.[2]
[edit] Genera and species
The family Gadidae includes 24 species, grouped into 13 genera. Some other forms once included here have since been removed to other families. On the other hand, the tadpole cod family Ranicipitidae has now been absorbed into Gadidae, having formerly contained just one species, the tadpole fish (Raniceps raninus).
Family Gadidae
- Genus Arctogadus Dryagin, 1932.
- East Siberian cod (Arctogadus borisovi) Dryagin, 1932
- Arctic cod (Arctogadus glacialis) (Peters, 1872)
- Genus Boreogadus Günther, 1862.
- Polar cod (Boreogadus saida) (Lepechin, 1774)
- Genus Eleginus Fischer, 1813.
- Saffron cod (Eleginus gracilis) (Tilesius, 1810)
- Navaga (Eleginus nawaga) (Koelreuter, 1770)
- Genus Gadiculus Guichenot, 1850.
- Silvery cod (Gadiculus argenteus argentus) Guichenot, 1850
- Gadiculus argenteus thori Schmidt, 1914
- Genus Gadus Linné, 1758.
- Pacific cod (Gadus macrocephalus) Tilesius, 1810
- Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) Linnaeus, 1758
- Greenland cod (Gadus ogac) Richardson, 1836
- Genus Melanogrammus Gill, 1862.
- Haddock (Melanogrammus aeglefinus) (Linnaeus, 1758)
- Genus Merlangius Garsault, 1764.
- Whiting (Merlangius merlangus) (Linnaeus, 1758)
- Genus Microgadus Gill, 1865.
- Pacific tomcod (Microgadus proximus) (Girard, 1854)
- Atlantic tomcod (Microgadus tomcod) (Walbaum, 1792)
- Genus Micromesistius Gill, 1863.
- Southern blue whiting (Micromesistius australis) Norman, 1937
- Blue whiting (Micromesistius poutassou) (Risso, 1827)
- Genus Pollachius Nilsson, 1832.
- Atlantic pollock (Pollachius pollachius) (Linnaeus, 1758)
- Saithe (Pollachius virens) (Linnaeus, 1758)
- Genus Raniceps Oken, 1817.
- Tadpole fish (Raniceps raninus) (Linnaeus, 1758)
- Genus Theragra Lucas in Jordan & Evermann, 1898.
- Alaska pollock (Theragra chalcogramma) (Pallas, 1814)
- Norwegian pollock (Theragra finnmarchica) Koefoed, 1956
- Genus Trisopterus Rafinesque, 1814.
- Norway pout (Trisopterus esmarkii) (Nilsson, 1855)
- Pouting (Trisopterus luscus) (Linnaeus, 1758)
- Poor cod (Trisopterus minutus) (Linnaeus, 1758)
[edit] Parasites
Cod and related species are plagued by parasites. One of them is the cod worm, Lernaeocera branchialis, a copepod crustacean, which at its final life stage clings to the gills of a gadid and metamorphoses into a plump, sinusoidal, wormlike body, with a coiled mass of egg strings at the rear.
[edit] References
- Froese, Rainer, and Daniel Pauly, eds. (2005). "Gadidae" in FishBase. December 2005 version.
- FishBase: Gadidae species photo gallery
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