Atlantic cod
| Atlantic cod | |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Gadiformes |
| Family: | Gadidae |
| Genus: | Gadus |
| Species: | G. morhua |
| Binomial name | |
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Gadus morhua Linnaeus, 1758 |
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| Distribution of Atlantic cod | |
The Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) is a benthopelagic fish of the family Gadidae, widely consumed by humans. It is also commercially known as cod or codling. Dry cod may be prepared as unsalted or as cured salt cod or clipfish.
In the western Atlantic Ocean, cod has a distribution north of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, and around both coasts of Greenland and the Labrador Sea; in the eastern Atlantic, it is found from the Bay of Biscay north to the Arctic Ocean, including the Baltic Sea, the North Sea, Sea of the Hebrides, areas around Iceland and the Barents Sea.
The largest individual on record was 6 feet (1.8 m) long and weighed 211 lb (96 kg), however usually the cod is between 24 inches (61 cm) and 4 feet (1.2 m) long, and weighs 88 lb (40 kg). There is generally no difference in weight or size between sexes of Atlantic Cod.
Atlantic Cod can live for 25 years, and usually attains sexual maturity between ages two and four, although cod in the northeast Arctic can take as long as eight years to fully mature. Colouring is brown or green, with spots on the dorsal side, shading to silver ventrally. A stripe along its lateral line (used to detect vibrations) is clearly visible. Its habitat ranges from the shoreline down to the continental shelf.
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Wikipedia