Cod is one of the most familiar marine fish among Chinese consumers, and its popularity is very high among young mothers because it has no small spines, high protein, is easy to digest, and is often used to make complementary foods for children.
However, the degree of confusion in the trade names of cod in the market is much higher than that of salmon (Atlantic cod), such as blue cod, black cod, white cod, silver cod, cod, cod, cod, norwegian cod, Russian cod named after the origin, etc.
Its price ranges from more than ten yuan to hundreds of yuan, and many mothers simply do not know which to buy and which is more suitable for their children.
The confusion of the cod market is largely due to taxonomic reasons, the "personal files" of each organism are classified in the hierarchical order of "boundary-phylum-order-family-genus-species", and the so-called "salmon" are at least salmonids, and taxonomically from large to small are cod (Gadiformes), cod (Gadidae), cod (Gadus), so a considerable number of cod fish can be called cod.
There are even some fish that are not even cod orders, which are also called "cod" by merchants, and their shape and flesh color are similar to real cod, and consumers are even more difficult to distinguish.
Today I will briefly introduce the common "cod", but don't expect to read a picture and exhaust the net, after all, the cod order administers 11 families, 162 genera, and more than 700 species of fish!
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Strictly speaking, the most authentic true cod refers to the three species of fish in the genus Cod-Cod, namely Atlantic Cod, Pacific Cod and Greenland Cod, all of which are native to the North Pacific, North Atlantic and Arctic regions.
In addition, the Alaskan cod can be counted as the fourth true cod, but its classification is a little controversial.
1. True cod/Norwegian cod
Atlantic cod, Latin scientific name Gadus morhua, English name Atlantic cod, mainly from the North Atlantic Ocean, the Arctic Ocean of the Barents Sea and Greenland is also distributed.
Atlantic cod body length up to 2 meters, with a more obvious body line, was once the world's largest catch of cod species, the famous British fish and chips are often used.
The current annual global catch of Atlantic cod has fallen to about 1.4 million tonnes, just about a third of its peak.
2. Large-headed cod
Pacific cod, latin for gadus macrocephalus and English for Pacific cod, is mainly produced in the coastal areas of the North Pacific, including China's Bohai Sea and Yellow Sea.
Pacific cod can reach a length of about 1 metre and the current annual global catch is around 500 000 tonnes.
Due to its meat quality and taste, it is not very popular in The country, and the price is very cheap, even cheaper than the oil fish pretending to be cod, so the cheap one is not necessarily fake cod.
3. Greenland cod
Greenland cod, Latin scientific name Gadus ogac, English name Greenland cod, mainly produced in North America, Russia's White Sea is also distributed, there is also a saying that greenland cod is actually a miniaturized Pacific cod.
Greenland cod is small, up to about 70 cm, and is currently caught in very small quantities, almost invisible on the market, so it has little commercial value.
4. Yellow-lined cod
Alaskan cod, commonly known as the Mingtai fish, Latin scientific name Theragra chalcogramma, English name Alaska pollock, walleye pollock, mainly distributed in the eastern North Pacific ocean and the Bering Sea.
It was originally classified as cod-cod-cod, and was later moved to the cod-cod-cod genus, and recently found to be close to Atlantic cod, so it is ready to return to the cod genus.
If its identity is recognized by the academic community, it may be renamed Gadus chalcogrammus, but the English namepollock has become conventional.
The Alaskan cod is small, about 80 centimeters in size, but it produces a large amount of about 3 million tons a year, but it is only half of its peak, and it is used in many Western-style fast food restaurants for cod burgers.
In addition to these four species of cod, there are many species of cod called "cod", some of which are close relatives of true cod, that is, belong to the cod family, but are not in the cod genus.
5. Haddock cod
The Latin scientific name Melanogrammus aeglefinus, the English name haddock, is a fish of the genus Cod-Cod family Haddock, although it was first classified as a cod-cod in the genus Trout (the great god of species taxonomy).
It is generally no more than 1 meter, the biggest feature is the black line on the body side, the current global annual catch has been less than 300,000 tons, mainly sold to the European and American markets, rare in China.
6. Yellow cod
The Latin scientific name Eleginus gracilis, or the English name saffron cod, is a fish in the genus Cod-Cod, but was also classified as Cod-Cod in the early period.
Its flesh is close to that of real cod, but it is cheaper, so it is often used instead of/impersonating real cod.
It is small, only about half a meter, and the annual global catch is about 30,000 tons.
7. Blue cod
The Latin scientific name Microsistius poutassou, the English name Blue whiting, it was once classified as cod-cod family -cod in the early days, and is currently classified as cod-cod-cod, which is a smaller cod.
It is close to the meat of the cod, but is cheaper and is often used to produce cod burgers, reaching a global annual catch of 2.5 million tons at its peak.
8. Cod
The Latin scientific name Merlangius merlangus, the English name whiiting, is a fish of the genus Cod in the family Codidae.
It is mainly distributed in the North Atlantic and the Great Lakes region of North America, and is small in size, with an annual global catch of about 40,000 tons.
Other cod are distant relatives of authentic cod, belonging to the same order Cod, but not in the cod family.
9. White cod
No-for-cod, is a general term for the cod-nosed cod-nosed cod, generally called XXX Hake in English, but some species were once classified as cod-cod-cod.
They are also very common in Europe and the United States, of which the annual catch of the North Pacific cod (scientific name Merluccius productus) is about 300,000 tons, the European cod (scientific name Merluccius merluccius) has an annual catch of about 120,000 tons, in addition to the silver cod, the South Pacific cod, the Argentine cod and other species.
The fat content of cod is higher than that of authentic cod, so the taste is better, and the economic value is no less than that of authentic cod.
10. Long-tailed cod/sharp-tailed cod
This is the collective name of the four species of fish in the genus Cod, for example, the Latin scientific name Macronus novaezelandiae's New Zealand long-tailed cod is a new Zealand endemic fish species, the English name is hoki, blue grenadier, whiptail and so on.
It reached an annual production of about 300,000 tons during the peak of the catch, but in recent years it has rapidly dropped to about 100,000 tons.
11. Green cod
The Latin scientific name Oflachius virens, the English name Saithe, pollock, etc., are mainly distributed in the North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, with an annual catch of about 300,000 tons.
It is a fish of the genus Codidae-Cod, and was also classified as Cod-Cod in the early period, with a body length of up to one meter and three meters, and has high economic value.
In addition, there is a species of broom, latin scientific name Polarachius pollachius, but the catch is less than 10,000 tons, and the economic value is limited.
12. Red cod
The Latin name Pseudophycis bachus, the English name Red cod, is a fish of the genus Cod in the family Codidae, mainly distributed near Australia and New Zealand.
Its size, flesh and size are close to that of real cod, but they are relatively inexpensive, so they are often used to replace/impersonate real cod, but the catch is very low, less than 10,000 tons per year worldwide.
13. Fine-scaled cod
Often referred to as the Russian deep-sea cod, latin scientific name Albatrossia pectoralis, it is a species of fish in the genus Cod in the family Codidae, which is actually widely distributed in the deep seas of the North Pacific, Atlantic and Arctic Oceans.
Its body length can reach more than 2 meters, but the meat is relatively soft, high in water, low in protein, and a considerable number of cod steaks are replaced/impersonated by it.
This is the common cod that can be counted as cod.