The Arctic Cod is the most numerous and the best represented out of the whole Cod family. They mainly live around Greenland, Iceland, Baffin Bay, Hudson Bay and Newfoundland and Labrador. All they really do is eat and spawn, eat and spawn. Between January and March they lay up to 9 million eggs. ( They sure do get around!!) The eggs float to the surface and hatch 10-20 days later. The babies live there for 2 and a half months, then, when they reach one whole inch they start to swim to deeper waters. By the end of their first year they are about a foot long. Their favorite foods are: mollusks, lobsters, crabs, sea worms, squid, and other little fishes. Besides food, Cods have other uses, such as, oil used in tanning leather, in tempering steel, and making some soaps. Also, lots of old people love cod liver oil because it contains a lot of vitamin A and D. They have adaptations, such as, slender teeth, small scales, a slender body, and a bluntly rounded snout. What a catch!!  

          Dog fish are any of several relatively small sharks that inhabit temperate and tropical seas throughtout the world. The best known dog fish is the common spiny dog fish which may grow to a length of 4 feet and may weigh up to 15-20 lbs. During the breeding season, sexually mature dog fish form large schools. Mating occurs after the female has given birth to its fully developed live young. The males pelvic fins are modified into claspers which allows internal fertilization of the female. The eggs take 22-24 months to fully develop. From 1930 to 1950, dog fish were fished mostly for the vitamin A rich oil contained in their livers. Dog fishes have long, slender, gray or greenish-gray bodies, pointed snouts, and large, asymmetrically forked tails. They are covered with tiny round or diamond shaped bony scales..  

 

          The redfish is also called channel bass or red drum, a saltwater food and game fish, that lives along both sides of the north Atlantic, and large catches are found on the shelf between Greenland and Iceland. Redfish are viviparous, which means their eggs stay in the ovary after they hatch, until the yolk sac is absorbed. The eggs are then released between May and August, by the thousands. These fish are bright red in colour, have sharp, spiny spikes (as seen in the above picture), large eyes and a bony protrysion on their lower jaw. Their diet consists chiefly of euphausiids, decapods,copepods, amphipods and other small fishes. They are eaten by halibut, large cod and other fish. They became commercially important about 1935 when filleting of fish began. In 1962, 60 079 000 lbs. Had a market value of $1 571 000. 

           The American Plaice live on or near the bottom of the sea. They feed on amphipods, crustaceans, gastropods and mollusks, and are eaten by cod, halibut and other large fish. They live near the bottom of the cold ocean  in fine sand or soft mud areas in both sides of the North Atlantic, West Greenland and Iceland. During the winter, adults move into deeper water, where they stay until it is warmer in April. The female Plaice produces 30 000- 60 000 eggs, and after they are laid, they float near the surface until they hatch. In the bay of fundy this takes place during April or May, in the southern gulf of St. Lawrencr in May or June, and as late as July in the Newfoundland Grand Banks. These fish have some very unique adaptations. They are flat, and both of their eyes are on one side of their body. They also have a large mouth and a rounded tail. 

          The Sand Launce live on sandy bottoms, in the cold arctic waters of North America, Europe, and on the south Labrador coast.  They are found in large schools which feed on small marine animals like copepods, marine worms, fish fry, and they are eaten by cod, haddocks, whales, and porpoises. Little is known about their spawning habits. European Sand Launce spawns in autumn and winter, and their eggs are fasten to sand grains. It's probably the same with the Northern Sand Launce. They have a large mouth, and a projecting lower jaw, no teeth, a forked tail, and a long head. Their commercial value is not considerable because so many are eaten by bigger fishes.  

          These fish are scavengers and are frequently found burrowing into decayed material (other fishes). They live in the dark deep  arctic seas, and off the coasts of the north Atlantic. These fish produce a small number of eggs, but the eggs are large, and have a horny shell. They eggs are deposited on bottom, where is clings to solid objects. A popular place for spawning is the Bay of Fundy, and George's Bay. Hagfish are eel shaped, have no lips, no paired fins, they have a single nostril at the tip of their snout, and no eyes. They also have a series of mucus sacs on both sides of its abdomen. When they are handled or disturbed they produce large amounts of slime. They have no real commercial value. These are ugly and gross and we hate them.  They are slimy and have no eyes and their main purpose in life is to crawl up codfished butts and eat them from the inside.  We don't so much approve of this lifestyle. 

          The alligatorfish has armoured plates that distinguish the alligatorfish at a glance. The alligatorfish's body is also elongated, and slender. They have minute teeth and a small mouth terminal. They don't grow much more than 7 inches. It is found in deep colder waters from West Greenland and the coast of Labrador south to Cape Cod, straying to New Jersey. It is frequent in deeper parts of the St. Lawuence and the grand banks. The larvae is found in these same areas, indicating they don't go far to lay their eggs. It doesn't have much commercial value.

 

          Although it's not a very rare fish, the lumpsucker isn't seen very often as it lives in fairly deep cold water. In spring, however, this  ball-shaped fish moves into shallow water to mate and lays its eggs in rocky areas. The male stays behind to guard the eggs until they hatch, using his sucker-shaped pelvic fin to cling on to the rocks in the surge. Which is a very unique feature of the fish. The mating season is a very vulnerable time for the male because it doesn't feed and it is at risk of being washed on shore. After the eggs have hatch, a month or so later the spiny lumpsucker moves on out to deeper waters. This happens every year. This fish also has no real commercial value.  This is our favorite fish because it is so cute!!!