Marbled rockcod
Species of fish
title: "Marbled rockcod" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["notothenia", "fish-of-the-southern-ocean", "fauna-of-the-crozet-islands", "fauna-of-the-kerguelen-islands", "fauna-of-heard-island-and-mcdonald-islands", "fish-described-in-1844", "taxa-named-by-john-richardson-(naturalist)"] description: "Species of fish" topic_path: "general/notothenia" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marbled_rockcod" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Species of fish ::
| image = Notothenia rossii.jpg | taxon = Notothenia rossii | authority = J. Richardson, 1844 | synonyms =
- Notothenia rossii rossii J. Richardson, 1844
- Notothenia marmorata J. G. Fischer, 1885
- Notothenia rossii marmorata J. G. Fischer, 1885
- Notothenia coriiceps macquariensis Waite, 1916 | synonyms_ref =
The marbled rockcod (Notothenia rossii) is a species of marine ray-finned fish, belonging to the family Nototheniidae, the notothens or cod icefishes. It is native to the Southern Ocean, where it can be found at depths from 5 to. This is a commercially important species.
Taxonomy
The marbled rockcod was first formally described in 1844 by the Scottish naval surgeon, naturalist and Arctic explorer John Richardson with no type locality given, although it is thought likely to be Kerguelen Island. Richardson gave it the specific name rossii which honours James Clark Ross, the leader of the Ross expedition, a scientific expedition by the vessels HMS Erebus and HMS Terror to survey and explore the coasts of Antarctica.
Description
The marbled rockcod can reach a length of 92 cm, though a more common length is around 50 cm. The greatest recorded weight for this species is 10 kg. The dorsal fin is divided in two parts, with four to seven spines in the front portion and 32 to 36 soft rays in the long, back portion. The anal fin has 26 to 30 soft rays.
Distribution
The marbled rockcod's range includes the northern end of the Antarctic Peninsula, the Scotia Arc, Prince Edward Islands, Crozet Islands, Kerguelen Islands, Heard Island and Macquarie Island, as well as the Ob Bank, and Lena Bank.
Biology
Marbled rockcod females become sexually mature at about six years of age. Along with mature males they move into the deeper water of the continental shelf. Spawning takes place once a year and the young fish stay mostly in shallow water in the fiords and bays, feeding mainly on zooplankton. Males can live for up to twelve years.
Fisheries
The marbled rockcod was heavily fished by Soviet fishers during the 1960s and 1970s, with catches exceeding 100,000 tonnes in some seasons; it almost disappeared from around South Georgia Island, and by 1980, was depleted throughout the Southern Ocean. It took the population 20 years to show signs of recovery.
References
- Tony Ayling & Geoffrey Cox, Collins Guide to the Sea Fishes of New Zealand, (William Collins Publishers Ltd, Auckland, New Zealand 1982)
References
- Bailly, Nicolas. (2020). "''Notothenia rossii'' Richardson, 1844".
- {{FishBase. (2014)
- {{Cof genus
- (12 April 2021). "Order Perciformes: Suborder Notothenoididei: Families Bovichtidae, Pseaudaphritidae, Elegopinidae, Nototheniidae, Harpagiferidae, Artedidraconidae, Bathydraconidae, Channichthyidae and Percophidae". Christopher Scharpf and Kenneth J. Lazara.
- (1990). "Fishes of the Southern Ocean". South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity.
- "Large-scale commercial marine harvesting". Lighthouse Foundation.
- (2021). "A long road to recovery: dynamics and ecology of the marbled rockcod (Notothenia rossii) at South Georgia, 50 years after over-exploitation". ICES Journal of Marine Science.
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