Sleepy cod
Encyclopedia
The sleepy cod, Oxyeleotris lineolatus, is a medium-sized freshwater fish
, native to tropical regions of northern Australia
.
Sleepy cod generally weigh up to 3 kg. They are very common in waterways across northern Australia. They are plain brown coloured fishes. They are sedentary in nature. They are one of the most favoured freshwater fish in Australia for eating, having white, flaky flesh, low fat content and a mild flavour. There are other two species of sleepy cod, although they are not as common as O.lineolatus: Oxyeleotris selheimi and O.gyrinoides, both occupying some parts of northern Australia. All species have similar table qualities.
The sleepy cod are members of the order Perciformes
, and thus unrelated to the true cod
. They are not closely related to the Australian freshwater cods
like Murray cod
either, being in a separate family.
Fish
Fish are a paraphyletic group of organisms that consist of all gill-bearing aquatic vertebrate animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish, as well as various extinct related groups...
, native to tropical regions of northern Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
.
Sleepy cod generally weigh up to 3 kg. They are very common in waterways across northern Australia. They are plain brown coloured fishes. They are sedentary in nature. They are one of the most favoured freshwater fish in Australia for eating, having white, flaky flesh, low fat content and a mild flavour. There are other two species of sleepy cod, although they are not as common as O.lineolatus: Oxyeleotris selheimi and O.gyrinoides, both occupying some parts of northern Australia. All species have similar table qualities.
The sleepy cod are members of the order Perciformes
Perciformes
The Perciformes, also called the Percomorphi or Acanthopteri, is one of the largest orders of vertebrates, containing about 40% of all bony fish. Perciformes means perch-like. They belong to the class of ray-finned fish and comprise over 7,000 species found in almost all aquatic environments...
, and thus unrelated to the true cod
Cod
Cod is the common name for genus Gadus, belonging to the family Gadidae, and is also used in the common name for various other fishes. Cod is a popular food with a mild flavor, low fat content and a dense, flaky white flesh. Cod livers are processed to make cod liver oil, an important source of...
. They are not closely related to the Australian freshwater cods
Maccullochella
Maccullochella is a genus of large Australian predatory freshwater fish within the Percichthyidae family. The Maccullochella genus was named after an early Australian fish researcher with the surname McCulloch....
like Murray cod
Murray Cod
The Murray cod is a large Australian predatory freshwater fish of the Maccullochella genus and the Percichthyidae family. Although the species is a called cod in the vernacular, it is not related to the northern hemisphere marine cod species...
either, being in a separate family.