Gadus chalcogrammus
No common name
NS
G5
Collection Details
Specimens
Photos
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Records
Taxonomic Hierarchy
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes)
Gadiformes (Cod, Hakes and others)
Gadidae (Cods)
Gadus
Gadus chalcogrammus
Description
This species account was compiled from
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Characters
Body shape: fusiform / normal. The dorsal fins are widely separated. The pelvic fins have a slightly elongated filament. The lateral line is continuous to about the back end of the first dorsal-fin base; it is interrupted at the read of the body. On the head are lateral line pores. Body color is olive green to brown on the back and becomes silvery on the sides and pale ventrally, often with mottled patterns or blotches. Striking features: none.
Distribution
North Pacific: from Kivalina, Alaska, to the southern Sea of Japan and to Carmel, California, USA. The occurrence off the northern part of Baja California (Mexico), as reported from Quast and Hall, (1972) (Ref. 6876) is apparently erroneous.
Habitat Associations
Brackish, marine. benthopelagic.
Biology
The adults usually live near to the sea floor, but sometimes they also appear near the surface (Ref. 1371). They perform diurnal vertical migrations (Ref. 1371). They mainly feed on krill (Ref. 39882) but they also eat fishes and crustaceans (Ref. 6885). The adults which are spawning are often solely captured for their roe (may have been the case in the first years of the fishery in the U.S., but hasn't been true for some time. In 1994, the North Pacific Fishery Management Council/NOAA enacted an amendment to the Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska Fishery Management Plans effectively banning the practice of stripping roe and discarding the carcasses, R. Rogness, pers.comm. April 2022). The meat is used to produce surimi (this is an imitation of shellfish meat) (Ref. 28499). They are traded as fresh fish, boneless flesh, in frozen blocks or as surimi. The fish is cooked in the microwave, steamed or fried in butter (Ref. 9988).
Max length: 91.0 cm TL; max weight: 3850 g; max age: 28 years.
Reproductive mode: dioecism; fertilization: external; nonguarders (open water/substratum egg scatterers); parental care: none. Oviparous, sexes are separate (Ref. 205). Congregate in dense schools to spawn, usually at 50 to 250 m depth.
IUCN Red List Status: N.E. (N.E.). Resilience: Low (Musick et al. 2000 (Ref. 36717); tmax = 28).
Commercial or Environmental Importance
Fisheries: highly commercial; gamefish.
References
Breder, C.M. and D.E. Rosen (1966) Modes of reproduction in fishes. T.F.H. Publications, Neptune City, New Jersey. 941 p.
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.
Eschmeyer, W.N., E.S. Herald and H. Hammann (1983) A field guide to Pacific coast fishes of North America. Boston (MA, USA): Houghton Mifflin Company. xii+336 p.
Allen, M.J. and G.B. Smith (1988) Atlas and zoogeography of common fishes in the Bering Sea and northeastern Pacific. NOAA Tech. Rep. NMFS 66, 151 p.
Livingston, P.A. (1993) Importance of predation by groundfish, marine mammals and birds on walleye pollock Theragra chalcogramma and Pacific herring Clupea pallasi in the eastern Bering Sea. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 102:205-215.
Yang, M.S. and M.W. Nelson (1999) Food habits of the commercially important groundfishes in the Gulf of Alaska in 1990, 1993, and 1996. NOAA Tech. Memo. NMFS-AFSC 112, 174 p.
Fedorov, V.V., I.A. Chereshnev, M.V. Nazarkin, A.V. Shestakov and V.V. Volobuev (2003) Catalog of marine and freswater fishes of the northern part of the Sea of Okhotsk. Vladivostok: Dalnauka, 2003. 204 p.
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