lingcod

Open encyclopedia reference

The lingcod or ling cod (Ophiodon elongatus) is a fish of the greenling family Hexagrammidae. Despite its name, the lingcod is neither a cod nor a ling. It is also known as the buffalo cod, cultus cod, or Buckethead. It is the only extant member of the genus Ophiodon. A slightly larger, extinct species, Ophiodon ozymandias, is known from fossils from the Late Miocene of Southern California. Ophiodon elongatus is native to the North American west coast from Shumagin Islands in the Gulf of Alaska to Baja California, Mexico. It has been observed up to a size of 152 centimetres (60 in) and a confirmed weight of 39 kilograms (86 lb), with unconfirmed reports of fish weighing more than 50 kilograms (110 lb). It is spotted in various shades of gray. The lingcod is a popular eating fish and is thus prized by anglers. Though not closely related to either ling or cod, the name "lingcod" originated because it somewhat resembles those fish. Around 20% of lingcods have blue-green to turquoise flesh.p.

Wikipedia contributors, Lingcod; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T02:30:22.506899+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.

Identity & source status

Scientific name

Ophiodon elongatus Girard, 1854

Name authority

Girard, 1854

Common name

lingcod

Rank

species

Accepted status

accepted

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Chordata

Class

Teleostei

Order

Perciformes

Family

Hexagrammidae

Genus

Ophiodon

Extinction status

Not supplied by this source

Source habitat flags: Marine: yes · Freshwater: no · Terrestrial: no. These do not form a complete habitat description.

Classification family tree

Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.

1. domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
2. kingdomAnimalia
3. phylumChordata
4. subphylumVertebrata
5. infraphylumGnathostomata
6. parvphylumOsteichthyes
7. gigaclassActinopterygii
8. superclassActinopteri
9. classTeleostei
10. orderPerciformes
11. suborderCottoidei
12. familyHexagrammidae Jordan, 1888
13. subfamilyOphiodontinae Jordan & Gilbert, 1883
14. genusOphiodon Girard, 1854
15. speciesOphiodon elongatus Girard, 1854

Close classified relatives

No other member of this genus is present in the selected snapshot.

Browse 9 records assigned to Hexagrammidae.

Names & synonyms

Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.

Source literature & publication evidence

References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.

1. Girard, C. F. (1854). Descriptions of new fishes, collected by Dr. A. L. Heermann, naturalist attached to the survey of the Pacific railroad route, under Lieut. R. S. Williamson, U. S. A. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, v. 7: 129–140. Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references

Origins, evidence & remaining research

Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.

Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.

Dataset citation & attribution

This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11

Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.

Stable key: col:49X2B. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.