{{Short description|Family of ray-finned fishes}} {{Automatic taxobox | fossil_range = {{Fossil range|Oligocene|recent}}<ref name=FB/> | image = Atlantic cod.jpg | image_upright = 1.15 | image_caption = Atlantic cod, ''Gadus morhua'' | taxon = Gadidae | authority = Rafinesque, 1810 | subdivision_ranks = Genera | subdivision = See text }}
The '''Gadidae''' are a family of marine fish, included in the order Gadiformes, known as the cods, codfishes, or true cods.<ref name= ITIS/> It contains several commercially important fishes, including the cod, haddock, whiting, and pollock.
Most gadid species are found in temperate waters of the Northern Hemisphere, but several range into subtropical, subarctic, and Arctic oceans, and a single (southern blue whiting) is found in the Southern Hemisphere. They are generally medium-sized fish, and are distinguished by the presence of three dorsal fins on the back and two anal fins on the underside. Most species have barbels on their chins, which they use while browsing on the sea floor. Gadids are carnivorous, feeding on smaller fish and crustaceans.<ref name=FB>{{FishBase family |family=Gadidae |year=2008 |month=December}}</ref>
Gadids are highly prolific, producing several million eggs at each spawning. This contributes to their high population numbers, which, in turn, makes commercial fishing relatively easy.<ref name=EoF>{{cite book |editor1=Paxton, J. R. |editor2=Eschmeyer, W. N. |author= Cohen, Daniel M.|year=1998|title=Encyclopedia of Fishes|publisher= Academic Press |location=San Diego |pages=130–131 |isbn= 0-12-547665-5}}</ref>
== Taxonomy == In the past, the contents of this family varied depending on the taxonomic authority. For example, fishes in the current Lotidae (with burbot, cusk) and Phycidae (hakes) were included in the Gadidae, as its subfamilies Lotinae and Phycinae. However, they are presently considered distinct families from one another, based on phylogenetic analyses.<ref name="ITIS">{{ITIS| id = 164701 | taxon = Gadidae | access-date = 7 January 2017}}</ref><ref name="FB" /><ref>Nelson, J. S. 2006. Fishes of the World, 4th edition. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.</ref><ref name=":13">{{Cite web |last=Fricke |first=R. |last2=Eschmeyer |first2=W. N. |last3=Van der Laan |first3=R. |date=2025 |title=ESCHMEYER'S CATALOG OF FISHES: CLASSIFICATION |url=https://www.calacademy.org/eschmeyers-catalog-of-fishes-classification |access-date=2025-02-10 |website=California Academy of Sciences |language=en}}</ref>
The following genera are placed in the Gadidae:
* ''Arctogadus'' <small>Dryagin, 1932</small> * ''Boreogadus'' <small>Günther, 1862</small> * ''Eleginus'' <small>Fischer, 1813</small> * ''Gadiculus'' <small>Guichenot, 1850</small> * ''Gadus'' <small>Linnaeus, 1758</small> * ''Melanogrammus'' <small>Gill, 1862</small> * ''Merlangius'' <small>Garsault, 1764</small> * ''Microgadus'' <small>Gill, 1865</small> * ''Micromesistius'' <small>Gill, 1863</small> * ''Pollachius'' <small>Nilsson, 1832</small> * ''Trisopterus'' <small>Rafinesque, 1814</small>
The following fossil genera are also known:
* †''Palimphemus'' <small>Kner</small><small>, 1862 (</small>early-late Miocene of Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, Kazakhstan and North Caucasus, Russia)<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Carnevale |first1=Giorgio |last2=Harzhauser |first2=Mathias |last3=Schultz |first3=Ortwin |date=2012 |title=The Miocene gadid fish Palimphemus anceps Kner, 1862: a reappraisal |url=http://www.bioone.org/doi/abs/10.5252/g2012n3a9 |journal=Geodiversitas |language=en |volume=34 |issue=3 |pages=625–643 |doi=10.5252/g2012n3a9 |bibcode=2012Geodv..34..625C |hdl=2318/118901 |issn=1280-9659|hdl-access=free }}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last1=Schwarzhans |first1=Werner |last2=Carnevale |first2=Giorgio |last3=Bratishko |first3=Andriy |last4=Japundžić |first4=Sanja |last5=Bradić |first5=Katarina |date=2017 |title=Otoliths in situ from Sarmatian (Middle Miocene) fishes of the Paratethys. Part II: Gadidae and Lotidae |url=https://sjpp.springeropen.com/articles/10.1007/s13358-016-0114-5 |journal=Swiss Journal of Palaeontology |language=en |volume=136 |issue=1 |pages=19–43 |doi=10.1007/s13358-016-0114-5 |bibcode=2017SwJP..136...19S |issn=1664-2384}}</ref> * †''Paratrisopterus'' <small>Fedotov, 1971</small> <small>(</small>mid-late Miocene of Poland, Moldova, Romania, Ukraine, Abkhazia and North Caucasus, Russia)<ref name=":0" /> * †''Semeniolum'' <small>Gaemers, 1984</small> [<nowiki/>otolith] - (early-late Oligocene of the Netherlands and Germany)<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Gaemers |first=Pieter |date=2017-07-17 |title=Taxonomy, Distribution and Evolution of Trisopterine Gadidae by Means of Otoliths and Other Characteristics |journal=Fishes |language=en |volume=1 |issue=1 |pages=18–51 |doi=10.3390/fishes1010018 |bibcode=2017Fishe...1...18G |doi-access=free |issn=2410-3888}}</ref>
== See also == *Diseases and parasites in cod
== References == {{Reflist}}
== External links == * {{Commons category-inline|Gadidae}} * {{Wikispecies-inline|Gadidae}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q208028}} {{Authority control}}
Category:Gadidae Category:Euteleostei families Category:Extant Oligocene first appearances Category:Marine fish families Category:Taxa named by Constantine Samuel Rafinesque
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