Pollachius virens, Saithe : fisheries, gamefish

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Pollachius virens (Linnaeus, 1758)

Saithe
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Pollachius virens   AquaMaps   Data sources: GBIF OBIS
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Image of Pollachius virens (Saithe)
Pollachius virens
Picture by Flescher, D.

Common names from other countries

Lieu noir, Сайда, قدّيّة سوداء, ... more

Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Teleostei (teleosts) > Gadiformes (Cods) > Gadidae (Cods and haddocks)
Etymology: Pollachius: Scottish dialect, podlock, paddle = bumpfish (Ref. 45335).
More on author: Linnaeus.

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Marine; demersal; oceanodromous (Ref. 51243); depth range 37 - 364 m (Ref. 5951). Temperate; 77°N - 33°N, 76°W - 35°E

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Point map | Introductions | Faunafri

Eastern Atlantic: Barents Sea, Spitsbergen to Bay of Biscay, around Iceland. Western Atlantic: southwest Greenland, Hudson Strait to North Carolina, although rare at the extremes of the range. Migrations for spawning are known to occur. Also long-distance north-south migrations for Europe and the US.

Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm 39.1  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 130 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 1371); common length : 60.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 4645); max. published weight: 32.0 kg (Ref. 7251); max. reported age: 25 years (Ref. 1371)

Short description Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 0; Anal spines: 0. Chin barbel small. Lateral line smooth along its entire length. Body color is brownish-green dorsally, becoming only slightly paler ventrally. The lateral line pale.
Body shape (shape guide): fusiform / normal; Cross section: circular.

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

An active, gregarious fish occurring inshore and offshore waters. Usually enters coastal waters in spring and returns to deeper waters in winter (Ref. 9988). Smaller fish in inshore waters feed on small crustaceans (copepods, amphipods, euphausiids) and small fish, while larger fish prey predominantly upon fishes. Spawn in batches (Ref. 51846). Utilized fresh, dried or salted, smoked, canned and frozen; eaten steamed, fried, broiled, boiled, microwaved and baked (Ref. 9988).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae

Oviparous, sexes are separate (Ref. 205).

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator | Collaborators

Cohen, D.M., T. Inada, T. Iwamoto and N. Scialabba, 1990. FAO species catalogue. Vol. 10. Gadiform fishes of the world (Order Gadiformes). An annotated and illustrated catalogue of cods, hakes, grenadiers and other gadiform fishes known to date. FAO Fish. Synop. 125(10). Rome: FAO. 442 p. (Ref. 1371)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435: Version 2025-1)

Not Evaluated 

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Harmless





Human uses

Fisheries: highly commercial; gamefish: yes
FAO - Fisheries: landings, species profile; Publication: search | FIRMS - Stock assessments | FishSource | Sea Around Us

More information

Trophic ecology
Food items (preys)
Diet composition
Food consumption
Food rations
Predators
Ecology
Ecology
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Population dynamics
Growth parameters
Max. ages / sizes
Length-weight rel.
Length-length rel.
Length-frequencies
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Recruitment
Abundance
Life cycle
Reproduction
Maturity
Maturity/Gills rel.
Fecundity
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Eggs
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Nutrients
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References

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Summary page | Point data | Common names | Photos

Internet sources

AFORO (otoliths) | Aquatic Commons | BHL | Cloffa | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes: genus, species | DiscoverLife | DORIS | ECOTOX | FAO - Fisheries: landings, species profile; Publication: search | Faunafri | Fishipedia | Fishtrace | GloBI | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | National databases | OceanAdapt | OneZoom | Open Tree of Life | Otolith Atlas of Taiwan Fishes | Public aquariums | PubMed | Reef Life Survey | RFE Identification | Socotra Atlas | TreeBase | Tree of Life | Wikipedia: Go, Search | World Records Freshwater Fishing | Zoological Record

Estimates based on models

Preferred temperature (Ref. 123201): 0.5 - 10.2, mean 7 °C (based on 292 cells).
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804):  PD50 = 0.7500   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00661 (0.00581 - 0.00751), b=3.07 (3.03 - 3.11), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this species (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level (Ref. 69278):  4.3   ±0.4 se; based on diet studies.
Generation time: 7.3 (5.6 - 9.2) years. Estimated as median ln(3)/K based on 12 growth studies.
Resilience (Ref. 120179):  Medium, minimum population doubling time 1.4 - 4.4 years (rm=0.55-0.87; K=0.07-0.17; tm=2-10; tmax=25; Fec=220,000).
Prior r = 0.52, 95% CL = 0.34 - 0.78, Based on 21 full stock assessments.
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  High vulnerability (59 of 100). 🛈
Climate Vulnerability (Ref. 125649):  Moderate vulnerability (38 of 100). 🛈
Price category (Ref. 80766):   Low.
Nutrients (Ref. 124155):  Calcium = 11.7 [5.3, 40.2] mg/100g; Iron = 0.293 [0.115, 0.731] mg/100g; Protein = 18.3 [16.2, 20.3] %; Omega3 = 0.599 [0.310, 1.230] g/100g; Selenium = 27.1 [9.3, 77.1] μg/100g; VitaminA = 11.1 [2.8, 45.1] μg/100g; Zinc = 0.363 [0.184, 0.685] mg/100g (wet weight); based on nutrient studies.