The Arctic cod (Arctogadus glacialis) is a deepwater fish closely related to the true cod (genus Gadus). It has several common names, including "Polar cod" and "Greenland cod". Note, however, that another species, Boreogadus saida, also shares the common names "Arctic cod" and "Polar cod", while the name "Greenland cod" refers aditionally to the species Gadus ogac.
It is widely distributed in the western part of the Arctic basin, also the northwest and northeast coasts of Greenland. Its range is between 85 and 72 north latitude. Arctic cod can be found at depths of up to 1000 m, and frequently under ice.
It is silvery in appearance and can grow up to 30 cm in length. It lacks the chin barbels of other cod species.
Arctic cod feed on invertebrates, such as crabs and molluscs, as well as on smaller fish. They are eaten by narwhals, seals and by other fish and they form an important part of the Arctic food chain. The species is of minor commercial value.
Spawning occurs under the Arctic ice cover and fertilization is external, meaning that the female releases her eggs into the sea where they are fertilized by milt from the male.
Arcticcod are the main consumers of plankton (microscopic forms of animal and plant life) in the Arctic seas.
Estimates of Arcticcod from echo sounder surveys of an area of about 18,000 square miles off southern Labrador and northern Newfoundland during 1978 suggest that there were then about 100,000 tonnes of the fish in the area, mainly the young-of-the-year.
Feeds |
Contact