The pink cusk-eel, ''Genypterus blacodes'', is a

demersal The demersal zone is the part of the sea or ocean (or deep lake) consisting of the part of the water column near to (and significantly affected by) the seabed and the benthos. The demersal zone is just above the benthic zone and forms a layer of ...

species of

cusk-eel The cusk-eel family, Ophidiidae, is a group of marine bony fishes in the Ophidiiformes order. The scientific name is from the Greek ''ophis'' meaning "snake", and refers to their eel-like appearance. True eels, however, diverged from other ray ...

found in the oceans around southern

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

, and around

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

except the east coast of Northland, in depths of . Their length is up to , and they live for up to 30 years. Their maximum weight is . This species has a pinkish yellow body marbled with irregular reddish brown blotches dorsally, with no dorsal spines or anal spines. Other names in English include ling, Australian rockling, New Zealand ling, kingklip, pink ling, and northern ling. The

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

n kingklip is a similar, related species (''

Genypterus capensis ''Genypterus capensis'', commonly known as kingklip, is a species of cusk eel occurring along the Southern African coast from Walvis Bay in Namibia to Algoa Bay in South Africa. It is closely related to '' Genypterus blacodes'' from New Zealand. ...

''). This species feeds on crustaceans such as ''

Munida ''Munida'' is the largest genus of squat lobsters in the family Munididae, with over 240 species. Species *''Munida abelloi'' Macpherson, 1994 *''Munida acacia'' Ahyong, 2007 *''Munida acantha'' Macpherson, 1994 * ''Munida acola'' Macpherson, 2 ...

'' and scampi but also takes fish. It has been caught on the bottom during the spawning season of the

blue grenadier The blue grenadier (also known as hoki, blue hake, New Zealand whiptail, or whiptail hake, ''Macruronus novaezelandiae'') is a merluccid hake of the family Merlucciidae found around southern Australia and New Zealand, as well as off both the Atla ...

''(Macruronus novaezelandiae)'' while feeding on the species. Juveniles of this species are found in shallower shelf waters. This species is

oviparous Oviparous animals are animals that lay their eggs, with little or no other embryonic development within the mother. This is the reproductive method of most fish, amphibians, most reptiles, and all pterosaurs, dinosaurs (including birds), and ...

, and its eggs float on the surface in a pelagic mass. In the month-long NORFANZ Expedition of 2003 which was examining the

biodiversity Biodiversity or biological diversity is the variety and variability of life on Earth. Biodiversity is a measure of variation at the genetic (''genetic variability''), species (''species diversity''), and ecosystem (''ecosystem diversity'') l ...

of the

seamount A seamount is a large geologic landform that rises from the ocean floor that does not reach to the water's surface (sea level), and thus is not an island, islet or cliff-rock. Seamounts are typically formed from extinct volcanoes that rise abru ...

s and slopes of the

Norfolk Ridge The Norfolk Ridge is a long submarine ridge running between New Caledonia and New Zealand, about 1300 km off the east-coast of Australia. It is part of a complex region of ridges between the crust of the Pacific Basin and the continental cr ...

near New Zealand, a single specimen weighing was collected. This species is of major importance to

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 ...

, with catches in 2011 amounting to . It is utilized fresh, frozen or

smoked Smoking is the process of flavoring, browning, cooking, or preserving food by exposing it to smoke from burning or smoldering material, most often wood. Meat, fish, and ''lapsang souchong'' tea are often smoked. In Europe, alder is the tradi ...

, and can be fried or baked.

References

* * * Tony Ayling & Geoffrey Cox, ''Collins Guide to the Sea Fishes of New Zealand'', (William Collins Publishers Ltd, Auckland, New Zealand 1982) {{Taxonbar, from=Q2413190 Ophidiidae Fish of the Pacific Ocean Fish described in 1801 Taxa named by Johann Reinhold Forster