The rock cod (Lotella rhacina) is a temperate fish found off the coasts of southeastern Australia, 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
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Order:	Gadiformes
Family:	Moridae
Genus:	Lotella
Species:	L. rhacina
Binomial name
Lotella rhacina (J. R. Forster, 1801)
Synonyms
Gadus rhacinus Forster, 1801 Lotella fuliginosa Günther, 1862 Lotella callarias Günther, 1863 Lotella marginata Macleay, 1881 Lotella swanii Johnston, 1883 Lotella limbata Ogilby, 1886 Lotella macleayi Rendahl, 1921

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 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

• "Lotella rhacina". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 19 March 2006.
• Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.) (2005). "Lotella rhacina" in FishBase. November 2005 version.

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