Fish
Saithe
Pollachius virens
Pollachius virens (Linnaeus, 1758) · Gadidae WoRMS 126441
Reference photos
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A member of the pollack family with a dusky greenish-brown back and sides, a silvery white belly, and a straight, smooth, pale lateral line running the whole length of the flank. The upper and lower jaws are about equal in length, where the pollack has a projecting lower jaw and a dark lateral line that curves sharply over the pectoral fin. An active, gregarious fish of inshore and offshore water, also called coalfish or coley.
Depth
37-364 m; enters coastal water in spring and returns to deeper water (up to 350 m) in winter
Size
Up to 130 cm total length, commonly about 60 cm; to 32 kg and 25 years old
Habitat
Benthopelagic, both inshore and offshore; North Atlantic, from Greenland and the Barents Sea south to North Carolina and the Bay of Biscay
Behaviour
An active, gregarious fish; oceanodromous, making spawning migrations and long-distance north-south migrations
Diet
I eat
- Fish, especially sandeels, sprat and small gadids such as haddock, whiting and Norway pout
- Small crustaceans, chiefly copepods, amphipods and euphausiids, taken mostly by smaller fish inshore
- Squid, and seabed invertebrates such as brittlestars, small molluscs and polychaete worms
Eats me
- Grey seals: in the Northern Isles their diet is dominated by sandeel and gadid prey, particularly saithe and cod. Harbour seals in Shetland take saithe too.
- Larger predatory fish, including Atlantic cod, ling and anglerfish
- Seabirds and cetaceans, including the European shag, harbour porpoise and minke whale
Where you'd find it
Mostly seen in the North Sea, the waters west of Ireland and the waters west of Scotland, and only here and there elsewhere.
Sources
Open-access references behind this page. Every statement on this page was read out of one of them; anything that could not be traced to a source was taken off the page rather than left standing. Each link was checked on the date shown, and confirmed then to be about this species.
Grey Seal Diet Composition and Prey Consumption. Scottish Marine and Freshwater Science Vol 7 No 20
Marine Scotland Science / Sea Mammal Research Unit, University of St Andrews (2016)
SCOSOpen Government Licence v3.0link checked 2026-08-30
Harbour Seal Diet Composition and Diversity. Scottish Marine and Freshwater Science Vol 7 No 21
Marine Scotland Science / Sea Mammal Research Unit, University of St Andrews (2016)
SCOSOpen Government Licence v3.0link checked 2026-08-30
Marine Life Information Network, Marine Biological Association of the UK
MarLINlink checked 2026-08-30
Pollachius virens (Linnaeus, 1758)
World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS Editorial Board)
TaxonomyCC BY 4.0link checked 2026-08-30
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