The rock cod (''Lotella rhacina'') is a temperate fish found off the coasts of southeastern

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, Tasmania, the Great Australian Bight and northwards up the southwestern Australia coasts. They are also found around the coasts of New Zealand and California. They belong to the family Moridae and are not related to the true cods (genus ''Gadus''). They are also known as beardie in Australia. Rock cod are yellow-grey to red-brown with white fin margins. They have chin barbels. They may grow up to 50 cm in length. They are found in caves in bays and coastal reefs. They are frequently found inshore and inhabit shallow waters in the

continental shelf A continental shelf is a portion of a continent that is submerged under an area of relatively shallow water, known as a shelf sea. Much of these shelves were exposed by drops in sea level during glacial periods. The shelf surrounding an island ...

with typical depth of 10 to 90 m. Many other fish species are sometimes called 'rock cod', but most are unrelated to the cod family, and are better known as groupers.

References

* * rock cod Marine fish of Southern Australia Fish of New Zealand rock cod Taxa named by Johann Reinhold Forster {{Gadiformes-stub