You can sponsor this page

Gadus chalcogrammus Pallas, 1814

Alaska pollock
Add your observation in Fish Watcher
Native range | All suitable habitat | Point map | Year 2050
This map was computer-generated and has not yet been reviewed.
Gadus chalcogrammus   AquaMaps   Data sources: GBIF OBIS
Upload your photos and videos
 Pictures | Videos | Google image
Image of Gadus chalcogrammus (Alaska pollock)
Gadus chalcogrammus
Picture by Archipelago Marine Research Ltd.

Common names from other countries

Lieu de l'Alaska, Colín de Alaska, قدّيّة ألاسكا, ... more

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

Teleostei (teleosts) > Gadiformes (Cods) > Gadidae (Cods and haddocks)
Etymology: Gadus: Latin, gadus = a fish, cod? (Ref. 45335);  chalcogrammus: Name from the Greek 'chalcos' meaning brass and 'gramma' meaning mark (Ref. 6885).
  More on author: Pallas.

Issue
This species is placed in the genus Gadus in Eschmeyer (CofF ver. Jan. 2012: Ref. 89336). More studies are needed for a complete revision of all genera of Gadidae.

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

Marine; brackish; benthopelagic; non-migratory; depth range ? - 1280 m (Ref. 50550), usually 30 - 400 m (Ref. 54255).   Polar; 68°N - 34°N, 129°E - 120°W (Ref. 54255)

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

North Pacific: from Kivalina, Alaska, to the southern Sea of Japan and to Carmel, California, USA. The occurrence off the northern part of Baja California (Mexico), as reported from Quast and Hall, (1972) (Ref. 6876) is apparently erroneous.

Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm 36.9  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 91.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 2850); max. published weight: 3.9 kg (Ref. 56335); max. reported age: 28 years (Ref. 55701)

Short description Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 0; Dorsal soft rays (total): 38 - 48; Anal spines: 0; Anal soft rays: 33 - 42. The dorsal fins are widely separated. The pelvic fins have a slightly elongated filament. The lateral line is continuous to about the back end of the first dorsal-fin base; it is interrupted at the read of the body. On the head are lateral line pores. Body color is olive green to brown on the back and becomes silvery on the sides and pale ventrally, often with mottled patterns or blotches.

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

The adults usually live near to the sea floor, but sometimes they also appear near the surface (Ref. 1371). They perform diurnal vertical migrations (Ref. 1371). They mainly feed on krill (Ref. 39882) but they also eat fishes and crustaceans (Ref. 6885). The adults which are spawning are often solely captured for their roe (may have been the case in the first years of the fishery in the U.S., but hasn't been true for some time. In 1994, the North Pacific Fishery Management Council/NOAA enacted an amendment to the Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska Fishery Management Plans effectively banning the practice of stripping roe and discarding the carcasses, R. Rogness, pers.comm. April 2022). The meat is used to produce surimi (this is an imitation of shellfish meat) (Ref. 28499). They are traded as fresh fish, boneless flesh, in frozen blocks or as surimi. The fish is cooked in the microwave, steamed or fried in butter (Ref. 9988).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturities | Reproduction | Spawnings | Egg(s) | Fecundities | Larvae

Oviparous, sexes are separate (Ref. 205). Congregate in dense schools to spawn, usually at 50 to 250 m depth.

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)

  Not Evaluated 

CITES (Ref. 128078)

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Harmless




Human uses

Fisheries: highly commercial
FAO(Fisheries: production, species profile; publication : search) | FishSource | Sea Around Us

More information

Trophic ecology
Food items
Diet compositions
Food consumptions
Food rations
Predators
Ecology
Ecology
Home ranges
Population dynamics
Growths
Max. ages / sizes
Length-weight rel.
Length-length rel.
Length-frequencies
Mass conversions
Recruitments
Abundances
Life cycle
Reproduction
Maturities
Fecundities
Spawnings
Spawning aggregations
Egg(s)
Egg developments
Larvae
Larval dynamics
Distribution
Countries
FAO areas
Ecosystems
Occurrences
Introductions
BRUVS - Videos
Anatomy
Gill areas
Brains
Otoliths
Physiology
Body compositions
Nutrients
Oxygen consumptions
Swimming type
Swimming speeds
Visual pigment(s)
Fish sounds
Diseases / Parasites
Toxicities (LC50s)
Genetics
Genetics
Electrophoreses
Heritabilities
Human related
Aquaculture systems
Aquaculture profiles
Strains
Ciguatera cases
Stamps, coins, misc.
Outreach
Collaborators
Taxonomy
Common names
Synonyms
Morphology
Morphometrics
Pictures
References
References

Tools

E-book | Field guide | Identification keys | Length-frequency wizard | Life-history tool | Point map | Classification Tree | Catch-MSY |

Special reports

Check for Aquarium maintenance | Check for Species Fact Sheets | Check for Aquaculture Fact Sheets

Download XML

Summary page | Point data | Common names | Photos

Internet sources

Aquatic Commons | BHL | Cloffa | BOLDSystems | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | DiscoverLife | ECOTOX | Faunafri | Fishtrace | GenBank(genome, nucleotide) | GloBI | GOBASE | | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | MitoFish | National databases | Otolith Atlas of Taiwan Fishes | PubMed | Reef Life Survey | RFE Identification | Scirus | SeaLifeBase | Tree of Life | Wikipedia(Go, Search) | World Records Freshwater Fishing | Zoobank | Zoological Record

Estimates based on models

Preferred temperature (Ref. 115969): 0.4 - 5.6, mean 1.6 (based on 444 cells).
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804):  PD50 = 0.6250   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00631 (0.00550 - 0.00723), b=3.03 (2.99 - 3.07), in cm Total Length, based on LWR estimates for this species (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level (Ref. 69278):  3.6   ±0.1 se; based on diet studies.
Resilience (Ref. 120179):  Low, minimum population doubling time 4.5 - 14 years (Musick et al. 2000 (Ref. 36717); tmax = 28).
Prior r = 0.29, 95% CL = 0.19 - 0.44, Based on 16 full stock assessments.
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  High vulnerability (59 of 100).
Climate Vulnerability (Ref. 125649):  High vulnerability (55 of 100).
Price category (Ref. 80766):   Low.