Are burbot/catfish fresh water cod?

BTW has anyone here read Dr Don McPail's book, "The Freshwater Fishes of 
British Columbia"?
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Justin C. Johnston" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Tuesday, December 02, 2008 10:41 AM
Subject: Re: [IOBB-IBS-FORUM] Re: cray fish and freshwater clams/mussels


Steve,

My thoughts as to why the Lota lota is not commonly eaten follow...

Common names for Lota lota include burbot and eelpout.  There are actually 
festivals for the "eelpout" in places like Minnesota.  It is good table 
fair, but in the great lakes (and likely other areas) it is overshadowed by 
the trout and salmon fisheries.  It is probably better eating than the 
percids like the yellow perch and walleye, but it is not as easy to catch 
and so it again is overshadowed.  Plus, they just aren't that pretty of a 
fish so sportfisherman may get deterred and children probably would refuse 
to even touch one.

Just my thoughts, I have no real evidence of the above.

Cheers,
Justin

-----Original Message-----
From: Scientific forum on fish and fisheries 
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Steve Gutreuter
Sent: Tuesday, December 02, 2008 1:26 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [IOBB-IBS-FORUM] Re: cray fish and freshwater clams/mussels

On Tue, 2008-12-02 at 10:10 -0800, Pay_the_Piper wrote:
> It is intriguing to consider the economically valuable species which seem 
> able to adapt to either salt or fresh water:

<snip>

> What about cod? Are there fresh-water cod?

The Gadid Lota lota has a circumpolar distribution about the northern
hemisphere, with several subspecies.  I have always been puzzled about
why the North American Lota lota never drew much interest at the dinner
table.

--
Steve Gutreuter