Maori cod
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 Drawing by Dr Tony Ayling
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| Paranotothenia magellanica Forster, 1801 |
The Maori cod, black cod, blue notothenia, magellanic rockcod, Maori chief, or orange throat notothen, Paranotothenia magellanica, is a cod icefish in the genus Paranotothenia commercially harvested from the Southern Ocean. It is found at depths down to 255 metres, and its length is between 15 and 40 cm. It is a member of the order Perciformes and thus unrelated to the true cods.
The Maori Cod takes its name from the Māori, the indigenous people of New Zealand. The range of the species spreads from the southern tip of South America, the Falkland Islands, southern New Zealand and associated islands, the Patagonian coast to sub-Antarctic regions, but it is rarely found in the Ross Sea. Because of its wide distribution, it is fished for by many countries, and is known by various names, such as orange throat notothen (South Africa), Maori cod (USA), Maori chief (USA), megallanic rockcod (USA), blue nonothenia (USA) and black cod (New Zealand).
The Maori cod is a bluish on the back with irregular darker markings, and a greyish-yellow underside. The tail is square-cut, and the two lateral lines do not overlap. The first dorsal fin is small with only three or four spines.
It eats a variety of invertebrates and small fishes, together with seaweed. In turn, the Maori cod is an important diet item for seals and sea lions.
[edit] References
- Paranotothenia magellanica (TSN 642591). Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Accessed on 6 June 2006.
- "Paranotothenia magellanica". FishBase. Ed. Ranier Froese and Daniel Pauly. May 2006 version. N.p.: FishBase, 2006.
- 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
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