''Gadiculus argenteus'', or the silvery pout, is a species of

cod Cod is the common name for the demersal fish genus '' Gadus'', belonging to the family Gadidae. Cod is also used as part of the common name for a number of other fish species, and one species that belongs to genus ''Gadus'' is commonly not call ...

found in the Northeast Atlantic region. It grows to a length of and is of minor importance to local

commercial fisheries Commercial fishing is the activity of catching fish and other seafood for commercial profit, mostly from wild fisheries. It provides a large quantity of food to many countries around the world, but those who practice it as an industry must often ...

, being rather used as a

bait fish 300px, Feeder Goldfish are common baitfish. Bait fish (or baitfish) are small-sized fish caught and used by anglers as bait to attract larger predatory fish, particularly game fish. Baitfish species are typically those that are common and bree ...

. ''Gadiculus argenteus'' was until recently considered the only species in the genus ''

Gadiculus ''Gadiculus'', or the silvery pouts, are genus of cod, fishes in the family Gadidae. They are distributed in the coastal waters of the Northeast Atlantic and the adjacent Mediterranean Sea. They do not grow larger than and are of minor importan ...

'', known as the silvery pouts, but composed of two

subspecies In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...

, ''G. a. argentatus'' and ''G. a. thori''. Currently, they are considered two separate species with different distributions: ''G. argenteus'' is more southerly, occurring in the western

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...

and in the Atlantic around the

Strait of Gibraltar The Strait of Gibraltar ( ar, مضيق جبل طارق, Maḍīq Jabal Ṭāriq; es, Estrecho de Gibraltar, Archaic: Pillars of Hercules), also known as the Straits of Gibraltar, is a narrow strait that connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Medi ...

and to the south along the Moroccan coast, while '' G. thori'' is found from the

Bay of Biscay The Bay of Biscay (), known in Spain as the Gulf of Biscay ( es, Golfo de Vizcaya, eu, Bizkaiko Golkoa), and in France and some border regions as the Gulf of Gascony (french: Golfe de Gascogne, oc, Golf de Gasconha, br, Pleg-mor Gwaskogn), ...

north up to the North Cape.PAM Gaemers, JY Poulsen (2017
Recognition and Distribution of Two North Atlantic ''Gadiculus'' Species, ''G. argenteus'' and ''G. thori'' (Gadidae), Based on Otolith Morphology, Larval Pigmentation, Molecular Evidence, Morphometrics and Meristics
Fishes, 2(3), 15; doi:10.3390/fishes2030015
In

FishBase FishBase is a global species database of fish species (specifically finfish). It is the largest and most extensively accessed online database on adult finfish on the web.

, accessed June 2018''Gadiculus thori'' Schmidt, 1913
In

FishBase FishBase is a global species database of fish species (specifically finfish). It is the largest and most extensively accessed online database on adult finfish on the web.

, accessed June 2018

References

Gadidae Fish described in 1850 {{Gadiformes-stub