大西洋鳕为辐鳍鱼纲鳕形目鳕科的其中一种，被IUCN列为次级保育类动物，分布于北大西洋及北极圈海域，栖息深度100-1000公尺，本鱼背鳍3个，臀鳍2个，侧线在胸鳍处弯曲，体色多变，从褐色的到呈绿色或灰色的背面与在上侧面上，变成腹侧灰白，腹膜银色的，背鳍软条44-55枚;臀鳍软条33-45枚，体长可达200公分，栖息范围广泛，从沿海至大陆棚，成群游动，属杂食性，以藻类、甲壳类、鱼类、头足类等为食，为高经济价值的食用鱼，适合各种烹饪方式食用，另外也是重要的养殖鱼及游钓鱼。

The Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) is a benthopelagic fish of the family Gadidae, widely consumed by humans. It is also commercially known as cod or codling. Dry cod may be prepared as unsalted stockfish or as cured salt cod or clipfish.

In the western Atlantic Ocean, cod has a distribution north of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, and around both coasts of Greenland and the Labrador Sea; in the eastern Atlantic, it is found from the Bay of Biscay north to the Arctic Ocean, including the Baltic Sea, the North Sea, Sea of the Hebrides, areas around Iceland and the Barents Sea.