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Perciformes/Notothenioidei (Icefishes) >
Nototheniidae (Cod icefishes) > Pleuragrammatinae
Etymology: Dissostichus: Greek, disso = twice, one or other + Greek, stix, stichos =line, row (Ref. 45335); eleginoides: eleginoides deriving from the genus Eleginops for an assumed resemblance to that genus (Ref. 11892).
Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range
Ecology
Marine; pelagic-oceanic; oceanodromous (Ref. 51243); depth range 0 - 2144 m (Ref. 127764), usually 70 - 1500 m (Ref. 2121). Temperate; 33°S - 66°S, 77°W - 180°E (Ref. 54228)
Southeast Pacific and Southwest Atlantic: southern Chile round the coast to Patagonia (Argentina) and the Falkland Islands. Southwest Pacific: Macquarie Island. Southern Ocean: South Georgia. Also known from sub-Antarctic islands and seamounts of the Indian sector.
Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age
Maturity: Lm 49.0, range 38 - 60 cm
Max length : 215 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 2121); common length : 70.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 2121); max. published weight: 9.6 kg (Ref. 58336); max. reported age: 31 years (Ref. 87879)
At 12-15 cm TL, semi-pelagic juveniles become demersal at 150-400 m depth (Ref. 55957). Adults migrate to deeper habitats at depths greater than 1,000 m (Ref. 55957). Utilized as food fish (Ref. 4931).
May spawn for the first time from around 8-10 years of age (Ref. 71843).
Dewitt, H.H., P.C. Heemstra and O. Gon, 1990. Nototheniidae. p. 279-331. In O. Gon and P.C. Heemstra (eds.) Fishes of the Southern Ocean. J.L.B. Smith Institute of Ichthyology, Grahamstown, South Africa. (Ref. 5179)
IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435: Version 2025-2)
Threat to humans
Harmless
Human uses
Fisheries: commercial
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