The black cod or smallscaled cod, Notothenia microlepidota, is a marine cod icefish in the genus Notothenia with distribution ranging from southern New Zealand to sub-Antarctic seas, although they have also been fished off the Great Australian Bight, Chile, and round the Falkland Islands, on rocky reefs. Their length is between 25 and 70 cm, and they may weigh up to 3 kg. Image File history File links Size of this preview: 800 × 310 pixelsFull resolution (2473 × 957 pixel, file size: 37 KB, MIME type: image/gif) Notothenia microlepidota (Black cod) File historyClick on a date/time to view the file as it appeared at that time. ... For other uses, see Scientific classification (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Animal (disambiguation). ... Typical Classes See below Chordates (phylum Chordata) are a group of animals that includes the vertebrates, together with several closely related invertebrates. ... Orders See text The Actinopterygii are the ray-finned fish. ... Families many, see text The Perciformes, also called the Percomorphi or Acanthopteri, include about 40% of all fish and are the largest order of vertebrates. ... Species Genus Aethotaxis    mitopteryx Genus Cryothenia    peninsulae Genus Dissostichus    eleginoides    mawsoni Genus Gobionotothen    acuta    barsukovi    gibberifrons    marionensis Genus Gvozdarus    svetovidovi Genus Lepidonotothen    kempi    larseni    macrophthalma    mizops    nudifrons    squamifrons Genus Notothenia    angustata    coriiceps    cyanobrancha    microlepidota    rossii Genus Pagothenia    borchgrevinki    brachysoma Genus Paranotothenia    dewitti    magellanica Genus Patagonotothen (all non-Antarctic)    brevicauda    canina... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Genera Aethotaxis Cryothenia Dissostichus Gobionotothen Gvozdarus Lepidonotothen Notothenia Pagothenia Paranotothenia Patagonotothen Pleuragramma Trematomus See text for species. ... Greek ἀνταρκτικός, opposite the arctic) is a continent surrounding the Earths South Pole. ... The Great Australian Bight is a large bight, or open bay, encompassing an area of the Southern Ocean located off the central and western portions of the southern coastline of mainland Australia. ... For other uses, see Reef (disambiguation). ...

The juveniles are silvery in appearance with a pronounced tail fork. The adult has a less pronounced fork in the tail, with body colors of silver, yellow and reddish-brown. The scales are very small, and there are two lateral lines which have a considerable overlap. In this SEM image of a butterfly wing the scales are clearly visible, and the tiny platelets on each individual scale are just barely visible in the striping. ... In fish, the lateral line is a sense organ used to detect movement in the surrounding water. ...

Being a sub-Antarctic species, the black cod has special adaptations such as antifreeze proteins in its blood, as well as adipose tissues to offset its lack of swim bladders, giving it neutral buoyancy. Antifreeze proteins AFPs or ice structuring proteins ISPs refer to a class of polypeptides produced by certain vertebrates, plants, fungi and bacteria that permit their survival in subzero environments. ... Adipose tissue is an anatomical term for loose connective tissue composed of energy in the form of fat, although it also cushions and insulates the body. ... The gas bladder (also fish maw, less accurately swim bladder or air bladder) is an internal organ that contributes to the ability of a fish to control its buoyancy, and thus to stay at the current water depth, ascend, or descend without having to waste energy in swimming. ...

It should be noted that sablefish (Anoplopoma fimbria) is occasionally called black cod as well, but it is not a true cod. In New Zealand, Maori Cod is also known as "black cod". Binomial name Anoplopoma fimbria Pallas, 1814 The sablefish (Anoplopoma fimbria) is one of two members of the fish family Anoplopomatidae and the only species in the Anoplopoma genus. ... Binomial name Pallas, 1814 The sablefish, Anoplopoma fimbria, is one of two members of the fish family Anoplopomatidae and the only species in the Anoplopoma genus. ... Binomial name Paranotothenia magellanica The Maori Cod (Paranotothenia magellanica) is a commercially harvested fish from the Southern Ocean. ...

The black cod is unrelated to the true cod, and gets its name from the fact that it is a food fish. It is tasty to eat, and is commercially fished. COD may refer to many different topics, including: Cash on delivery Completion of discharge, shipping College of DuPage, a public Junior College with campuses in the suburbs of Chicago Call of Duty (series), a series of computer games Canadian Oxford Dictionary Carrier onboard delivery Catastrophic optical damage, a failure mode...

References

"Notothenia microlepidota". FishBase. Ed. Ranier Froese and Daniel Pauly. May 2006 version. N.p.: FishBase, 2006. FishBase is a comprehensive database of information about fish. ...

• Tony Ayling & Geoffrey Cox, Collins Guide to the Sea Fishes of New Zealand, (William Collins Publishers Ltd, Auckland, New Zealand 1982) ISBN 0-00-216987-8