Saithe fish
Saithe is an important commercial fish of the North Atlantic and Barents Sea. Other names include the Boston blue (separate from bluefish), coalfish/coley, and saithe in the UK, where the young fish are called podleys in Scotland and northern England.
Content
- What kind of fish is saithe?
- What does saithe fish look like?
- Where does saithe live?
- Where is saithe found?
- How saithe spawns
- What does saithe eat?
What kind of fish is saithe?
Saithe (Pollachius virens) is a schooling pelagic fish that lives in the water column and near the bottom. saithe reaches a length of 60–90 cm; specimens with a length of 115–120 cm are known.
What does saithe fish look like?
The back of the saithe is steel or olive green, the belly is silver-gray. The mouth of saithe is large, terminal, and the chin barbel is very short. The tail fin of the saithe has a deep notch. The lateral line of the saithe is light.
Where does saithe live?
Saithe fish lives in the North Atlantic, in the Barents Sea, in the northern part of the North Sea, and occasionally in the Baltic Sea.
Where is saithe found?
Despite the pelagic lifestyle, saithe is never found far beyond the continental shallows (shelf). The saithe makes long-distance seasonal migrations, going north in the spring and south in the fall. Found near the Murmansk coast in summer.
How saithe spawns
Saithe spawning occurs in the spring, at a water temperature of 6-10° C and a water salinity of about 35°/00. Juvenile saithe are associated with coastal areas. saithe is brought into the Barents Sea with the waters of the North Cape Current and is found in the bays of the Kola Peninsula, as well as off the southwestern shores of Novaya Zemlya. Juvenile saithe is not found far from the coast.
What does saithe eat?
Saithe fish is a pelagic predator whose main food is sand lance, juvenile herring, and capelin.