deep-sea cod of the lower slope

Size
Length: 40–60 cm, Weight: 1–2 kg
Lifespan
15–20 years
Diet
Small fish, squid and crustaceans. Hunts near the seafloor using large eyes adapted for low light. Uses its protrusible mouth to suck in prey. Feeds most actively at night. Swims with a slow, steady motion.
Habitat
Deep continental slopes and seamounts between 200 and 800 metres depth. Prefers muddy and sandy bottoms with stable, cold temperatures. Often found near the seafloor in the darker waters of the continental slope.
Range
Deep waters around New Zealand from Northland to the Campbell Plateau. Most common on the Chatham Rise and off the east coast of the South Island. Also found in the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans.
Endemism
Native
Main Threats
Bycatch in deep-sea trawl and longline fisheries is the primary threat. Habitat damage from bottom trawling on seamounts. Slow reproduction makes populations vulnerable. No targeted commercial fishery in New Zealand waters.
Population
Population trends are poorly understood due to the deep-water habitat. Caught as bycatch in hoki, orange roughy and oreo fisheries. Quota management limits total bycatch. Better species-specific data is needed for accurate stock assessments of this deep-sea morid cod.
Conservation Status
Not Threatened
Enormous googly eyes dominate the large head of the ribaldo. This deep-sea cod has eyes that seem too big for its body, adapted for the dark waters of the continental slope where sunlight never reaches. Between 200 and 800 metres down, the only light comes from bioluminescent organisms. Every photon matters. The ribaldo hunts near the seafloor using those oversized eyes to detect prey in near-total darkness. Small fish, squid and crustaceans. A protrusible mouth sucks in prey. It feeds most actively at night, though at those depths night and day blur together. A slow, steady swimming motion conserves energy. This is not laziness. This is an energy strategy. The flesh is firm and white, similar to other deep-sea cods, but ribaldo is rarely seen in fish shops. It is caught only as bycatch, an accidental visitor to the deck in trawl and longline fisheries targeting hoki, orange roughy and oreo. No one targets it. The name ribaldo comes from Italian, reflecting its presence in Mediterranean deep waters. Several names reflect its wide distribution and distinctive appearance. Population trends are poorly understood. Slow reproduction makes populations vulnerable. A googly-eyed cod of the deep slope, hovering in the dark, waiting for dinner to swim past. That is the ribaldo. And it carries on.