Atlantic cod.

Where to find it.

The North Atlantic from North America via Greenland and Iceland to northern Europe, including the North Sea and the Baltic.

Also known as Cod, Codling.

A closer look.

Three dorsal fins, two anal fins and a single barbel on the chin. Mottled brown-green body with a pale, clearly visible lateral line.

How it lives.

Cod mostly stay close to the bottom on the continental shelf. Many stocks make seasonal migrations between feeding and spawning grounds.

The next generation.

A large female can release several million eggs in a season. The eggs float freely in open water.

Conservation

Listed by the IUCN as Vulnerable, though that assessment dates from 1996. Several stocks have been severely depleted by overfishing.

Vulnerable — global IUCN assessment dated 1 August 1996. Regional populations can have a different status. View the Red List record ↗

In the margins.

• After the collapse of the stocks off Newfoundland, Canada imposed a fishing moratorium in 1992, costing tens of thousands of jobs.
• Stockfish is cod dried in the open air; klippfisk is salted and dried.