Antarctic cod
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| Antarctic Cod | ||||||||||||||
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| Dissostichus mawsoni'' |
The Antarctic Cod (Dissostichus mawsoni), also known as Mawson's cod, is a fish famous for producing antifreeze protein that allows it to hide just under the Antarctic ice.
Despite its name, the Antarctic Cod is quite unrelated to the true cod; it is not even in the same order, being classified as a perciform rather than a gadiform.
These large, sluggish fish can be found swimming around on the sea bottom, particularly near the shallow water on the coast. Fully grown, these grayish fish are among the biggest in the Antarctic, at least 5 feet long and weighing anywhere between 40 - 200 pounds. When eaten, they have been described as oily and very tasty. They are sometimes confused with the Patagonian toothfish.
Antarctic Cod have a lightweight cartilaginous skeleton, no swim bladder and fatty deposits which allow them to live in middle level waters. They also have retinas that are well adapted to the low light levels. Snow or ice on the surface of the sea, even in summer, reduces light levels to that of the great depths in the open oceans. Its distribution range is below 65 degrees South, which is caught only in the Ross Sea where there is enough ice-free water south of that latitude in summer. The Antarctic Cod fishery doubled from 626 tonnes in 2000-2001 to 1321 tonnes in 2001-2002.