Tag Archives: cod-haddock-like fish

Coddock? Sea sleuths work to uncover mystery of new cod-haddock-like fish

Last summer, I wrote about a very interesting fish, showing up in the Gulf of Maine and promised an update. Well, here it is. We nicknamed it a “coddock” due to its strange shape and coloration. It has the head of a haddock, the lateral line of a cod, the pectoral fin of a cod, and the meat flaked in large pieces like cod. The body shape is that of haddock, and all the other fins look like haddock fins, but it was missing the “thumbprint of God,” which is a large black spot just behind the operculum (gill plates) and above the pectoral (side fin). It also had spotted skin that looked more like a cod than the silvery skin of a haddock. This was abnormal and deserved some investigation. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 06:37

Coddock? How a new cod-haddock-like fish caught the attention of scientists

 A strange thing occurred during the winter of 2022-23 and into this spring. An odd-looking fish has cropped up off and on mixed in with the haddock brought into Gulf of Maine ports. This was recently brought to my attention by Linda Hunt, who is a fish dealer for Coastline Seafood. Recently while filleting a load of haddock for the market, she found five fish that she couldn’t quite identify. She had seen a few during the winter and one the day before but finding five in 200 pounds of fish all at once seemed odd. She contacted us with a photo. Wow, what is this fish? It has the head of a haddock, the lateral line of a cod, the pectoral fin of a cod, and the meat flaked in large pieces like cod. The body shape is that of a haddock and all the other fins look like haddock fins. But it was missing the “thumbprint of God,”,,, >click to read< 07:40