The Potato Cod
The cod is apart of the Serranidae family, these fish are carnivorous feeding on smaller fish and crustaceans. They produce several million eggs per spawning. There are around 450 different species in this family all being carnivorous. Many of the fish from this family are ambushers, they hide under ledges and in the darkness and wait for there prey to come to them. The Serrianidae family has a huge variety of fish ranging from small colorful blassets to the huge Queensland groper.
Classification
Some features that link the animals in this family is there extremely large mouths. They usually have a long streamline/spiky dorsal fin on the back of its body. They have several rows of teeth and the bottom row are usually like canine teeth. All the fish in the family are carnivorous. It also has an black and grey spot camouflage to blend in with the darkness and coral under ledges, the size of an adult cod can also be huge, they can grow up to 2 meters and weigh 150 kg, but an average adult is 1.5 meters weighing about 90 kgs. Most cod can grow up to this size and weight.
Feeding habits
Potato cods eat small rays, crabs, fish, squid, octopuses and rock lobsters. They like to ambush their prey by hiding behind lumps of coral until their food swims past. They then lunge quickly to grab their meal. The potato cod's head and mouth are extremely large so the prey is easily acquired, it just opens it mouth and swallows the prey. The potato cod blend right into the coral with there camouflage, this makes it easier for them to catch their prey.
Habitat
As you can see this particular potato cod is hanging around underneath a ledge in the darkness, waiting for its prey to come along. You can also notice it blends in very well with the coral. (photo courtesy of Mr. Smith)
Potato cod like to hang around the bottom of coral reefs looking for food. Baby potato cod can be found in tidal rock pools, the adults occur in depths between 10 and 150 meters. Most adult cod stay in the same area of reef for many years alone. I saw some adolescent potato cod hanging around 2 meters under a coral ledge. There was also a large potato cod under a ledge in the dark around 4 meters down.