''Microgadus tomcod'', also commonly known as frostfish, Atlantic tomcod or winter cod, is a type of cod found in North American coastal waters from the Gulf of St. Lawrence,

St. Lawrence River The St. Lawrence River (french: Fleuve Saint-Laurent, ) is a large river in the middle latitudes of North America. Its headwaters begin flowing from Lake Ontario in a (roughly) northeasterly direction, into the Gulf of St. Lawrence, connecting ...

and northern Newfoundland, south to

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

. The fishing season of the tomcod varies by location—one known example is the

Sainte-Anne River The Sainte-Anne River is a tributary of the north shore of the Saint Lawrence River, whose mouth is located at Sainte-Anne-de-la-Pérade. This river flows in the province of Quebec, Canada, in the administrative regions of: * Capitale-Nationale: ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

, where its season is from late-December to mid-February. A bimonitoring program tracked hormone levels of Atlantic tomcod caught near Miramichi and Kouchibouguac in 1993 and 1994, demonstrating that the preparatory period for spawning began in September with maximal steroid levels in November, and spawning took place from late December to January. The town of

Sainte-Anne-de-la-Pérade Sainte-Anne-de-la-Pérade () is a municipality in the Les Chenaux Regional County Municipality, in the Mauricie region of the province of Quebec in Canada. The town is located near the mouth of the Sainte-Anne River along the ''Chemin du Roy'', ...

is notable for its fishing village built on the frozen waters of the Ste-Anne, playing host to the scores of fishermen visiting the town to fish for the species. After

General Electric General Electric Company (GE) is an American multinational conglomerate founded in 1892, and incorporated in New York state and headquartered in Boston. The company operated in sectors including healthcare, aviation, power, renewable en ...

dumped

polychlorinated biphenyls Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are highly carcinogenic chemical compounds, formerly used in industrial and consumer products, whose production was banned in the United States by the Toxic Substances Control Act in 1979 and internationally by ...

(PCBs) in the

Hudson River The Hudson River is a river that flows from north to south primarily through eastern New York. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York and flows southward through the Hudson Valley to the New York Harbor between N ...

from 1947 through 1976, tomcod living in the river were found to have developed an increased resistance to the compound's toxic effects. Scientists identified the

genetic mutation In biology, a mutation is an alteration in the nucleic acid sequence of the genome of an organism, virus, or extrachromosomal DNA. Viral genomes contain either DNA or RNA. Mutations result from errors during DNA or viral replication, ...

that conferred the resistance, and found that the mutated form was present in 99 percent of the tomcods in the river, compared to fewer than 10 percent of the tomcods from other waters. This species can reach a length of .

Taxonomy

The Atlantic tomcod is one of two species in the ''Microgadus'' genus, the other being ''

Microgadus proximus ''Microgadus proximus'', also commonly known as Pacific tomcod, is a type of cod fish found in North American coastal waters from the southeastern Bering Sea to central California California is a state in the Western United States, locat ...

'', the Pacific tomcod.

In popular media

In the 2016 movie ''

Atomic Shark Atomic may refer to: * Of or relating to the atom, the smallest particle of a chemical element that retains its chemical properties * Atomic physics, the study of the atom * Atomic Age, also known as the "Atomic Era" * Atomic scale, distances comp ...

'' (also known as ''Saltwater''), the San Diego lifeguard investigating numerous shark attacks suggests that there's an "environmental disaster" underway. As part of her claim she references the "Tomcod" which mutated due to toxic waste dumped in the Hudson River. Similarly, in the 1975 movie '' Jaws'', when Quint (portrayed by Robert Shaw) makes his offer to the townspeople to catch and kill the shark, he says "You know how I earn a living... bad fish ... Not like going down to the pond and chasing bluegills or tommy-cods."

Gallery

Image:POULAMON.JPG Image:POULAMON2.JPG

References

External links

Microgadus tomcod

Atlantic tomcod Saint Lawrence River Fish of the Atlantic Ocean Fauna of Atlantic Canada Fauna of the Eastern United States Atlantic tomcod Taxa named by Johann Julius Walbaum {{Gadiformes-stub