View source for Pacific cod

{{Short description|Species of fish}}
{{Speciesbox
| fossil_range = {{Fossil range|Pleistocene |recent}}<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Harington |first1=C.R |title=A Late Pleistocene Steller sea lion (Eumetopias jubatus) from Courtenay, British Columbia: its death, associated biota, and paleoenvironment |journal=Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences |date=2004 |volume=41 |issue=11 |pages=1285–1297 |doi=10.1139/e04-061 |bibcode=2004CaJES..41.1285H |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/237169237}}</ref>
| name = Pacific cod
| image = Gadus macrocephalus.png
| image_caption =
| taxon = Gadus macrocephalus
| authority = [[Wilhelm Gottlieb Tilesius von Tilenau|Tilesius]], 1810
| synonyms = *''Gadus pygmaeus'' <small>[[Peter Simon Pallas|Pallas]], 1814</small> 
*''Gadus ogac'' <small>[[John Richardson (naturalist)|Richardson]], 1836</small> 
*''Gadus ovak'' <small>[[Johan Reinhardt|Reinhardt]], 1837</small> 
*''Gadus ogat'' <small>[[Henrik Nikolai Krøyer|Krøyer]], 1847</small> 
*''Gadus auratus'' <small>[[Edward Drinker Cope|Cope]], 1873</small> 
*''Gadus brandtii'' <small>[[Franz Martin Hilgendorf|Hilgendorf]], 1875</small> 
| synonyms_ref = <ref name = FB>{{FishBase|Gadus|macrocephalus|month=February|year=2018}}</ref>
}}

The '''Pacific cod''' ('''''Gadus macrocephalus''')'' is a species of [[Actinopterygii|ray-finned fish]] in the [[Family (biology)|family]] [[Gadidae]]. It is a bottom-dwelling fish found in the northern [[Pacific Ocean]], mainly on the [[continental shelf]] and [[Continental margin|upper slopes]], to depths of about {{convert|900|m|ft|-2|abbr=on}}. It can grow to a length of a meter or so and is found in large [[Shoaling and schooling|schools]]. They feed on clams, worms, crabs, shrimp, and juvenile fish.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Fisheries |first=NOAA |date=2024-09-06 |title=Pacific Cod {{!}} NOAA Fisheries |url=https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/species/pacific-cod#:~:text=Pacific%20cod%20school%20together%20and,,%20shrimp,%20and%20juvenile%20fish. |access-date=2024-12-03 |website=NOAA |language=en}}</ref> It is an important [[Commercial fishing|commercial food species]] and is also known as '''gray cod''' or '''grey cod''', and '''grayfish''' or '''greyfish'''. Fishing for this species is regulated with quotas being allotted for [[Longline fishing|hook and line fishing]], [[Fish trap|pots]], and [[Bottom trawling|bottom trawls]]. Fossils have been found in Canada near a Steller Sea lion fossil dating to the Pleistocene. 

==Description==
It has three separate [[dorsal fin]]s, and the [[catfish]]-like whiskers on its lower jaw. In appearance, it is similar to the [[Atlantic cod]]. A bottom dweller, it is found mainly along the continental shelf and upper slopes with a range around the rim of the North [[Pacific Ocean]], from the [[Yellow Sea]] to the [[Bering Strait]], along the [[Aleutian Islands]], and south to about [[Los Angeles, California|Los Angeles]], down to depths of {{convert|900|m|ft fathom|sigfig=1|abbr=on}}. It may grow up to {{convert|1|m|in|-1|abbr=on}} in length and weigh up to {{convert|15|kg|lb|abbr=on}}. It is found in huge schools.<ref name=FAO>[http://www.fao.org/fishery/species/3011/en ''Gadus macrocephalus'' (Tilesius, 1810)] FAO, Species Fact Sheet. Retrieved April 2012.</ref>

Molecular genetic analyses strongly suggest that Pacific cod and [[Greenland cod]] (''Gadus ogac'') from Greenland–Arctic Ocean are the same species and that ''G. ogac'' should be a junior synonym of ''G. macrocephalus''.<ref>{{Cite journal | last1 = Carr | first1 = S. M. | last2 = Kivlichan | first2 = D. S. | last3 = Pepin | first3 = P. | last4 = Crutcher | first4 = D. C. | title = Molecular systematics of gadid fishes: Implications for the biogeographic origins of Pacific species | doi = 10.1139/z98-194 | journal = Canadian Journal of Zoology | volume = 77 | pages = 19–26 | year = 1999 | bibcode = 1999CaJZ...77...19C }}</ref> Today, [[ITIS]] and the [[Catalogue of Life]] list ''Gadus ogac'' as synonym of ''G. macrocephalus''.<ref>Catalogue of Life: ''[https://www.catalogueoflife.org/data/taxon/6JV2L Gadus macrocephalus]''.</ref>

==Fisheries==
[[File:Pacific cod, capture production, thousand tonnes, 1950-2022.svg|left|thumb|{{center|1=Global capture production of Pacific cod (''Gadus macrocephalus'') in thousand tonnes from 1950 to 2022, as reported by the [[Food and Agriculture Organization|FAO]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=Fisheries and Aquaculture - Global Production |url=https://www.fao.org/fishery/en/collection/global_production?lang=en |access-date=2024-05-06 |website=Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)}}</ref>}}]]
In the Northeast Pacific catches of Pacific cod by the [[United States]] trawl fishery and joint-venture fisheries increased from less than 1,000 tonnes in 1979 to nearly 91,000 tonnes in 1984 and reached 430,196 tonnes in 1995. Today, catches are tightly regulated and the Pacific cod quota is split among fisheries that use hook and line gear, pots, and bottom trawls.

{{clear}}

==Conservation status==
The [[Salish Sea]] population of Pacific cod is a U.S. [[National Marine Fisheries Service]]  [[Species of Concern]], one of those species about which the U.S. government's [[NOAA|National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration]] has some concerns regarding status and threats, but for which insufficient information is available to indicate a need to list the species under the U.S. [[Endangered Species Act]] (ESA).<ref>[http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/species/concern/ Species of Concern] [[NOAA]]</ref>

<gallery widths="180">
File:Pacific cod larvae.jpg| {{center|Pacific cod [[Fish larva|larva]]}}
File:Young Pacific cod.jpg| {{center|Young Pacific cod}} 
Pacific cod caught on jigging gear.jpg| {{center|Adult Pacific cod caught on [[jigging]] gear}}
</gallery>

==As food==
<gallery widths="120px" heights="120px" mode="packed">
File:Bon dara.JPG|Cod gills eaten during [[Obon]] festival
File:Daegu-tang 1.jpg|Korean cod soup
File:Daegu-bol-jjim.jpg|Korean braised cod heads
</gallery>

==See also==
*[[Cod]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==References==
* {{ITIS |id=164711 |taxon=Gadus macrocephalus |access-date=19 March 2006}}
* {{FishBase|genus=Gadus|species=macrocephalus|year=2005|month=November}}

==External links==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20160405030117/http://www.fisherieswiki.org/species/show/11 Pacific cod-Gadus macrocephalus fishery profiles] Status of Pacific cod fisheries, summarised in FisheriesWiki

{{cod topics|state=expanded}}
{{commercial fish topics}}

{{Taxonbar|from=Q783575}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Gadus]]
[[Category:Commercial fish]]
[[Category:Fish of Canada]]
[[Category:Fish of China]]
[[Category:Fish of Japan]]
[[Category:Fish of Russia]]
[[Category:Fish of Korea]]
[[Category:Fish of the United States]]
[[Category:Taxa named by Wilhelm Gottlieb Tilesius von Tilenau]]
[[Category:Fish described in 1810]]