TOMMY COD???? HORNED POUT??????

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santoury

Fire Eel
MFK Member
Dec 8, 2006
3,624
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Massachusetts
A long time fisherman in Northern Mass has mentioned these two fish.

Tommy Cod - Merrimack River - Brackish environment. WHAT IS THIS FISH?



Horned Pout - FRESHWATER reservoir along the NH / Mass line. What is this fish? He said they average 10 to 14 inches. And yes, he knew what a Sculpin was when I asked him - and no, they are not sculpins (Or the small type anyway.)
 
Horned pout are just like a mini catfish, but with some venomous barbs on some fins... and i think they croak aloud. all i know
 
Aqua, would they happen to be bullheads??
 
Gman.... worth keeping in a tank? Or boring? Got a pic?
 
I have heard bullheads called horned pout before. Bullheads are North American catfishes related to channels, blues, flatheads and the little known madtoms.

Tommy Cod is another name for the Atlantic tomcod (Microgadus tomcod). These are members of the cod/haddock family and can be found in brackish, fresh and marine waters. These guys are anadromous.
 
santoury;853940; said:
Gman.... worth keeping in a tank? Or boring? Got a pic?
Click to expand...

Bullhead are worth keeping if you like catfish. I have kept them before and currently have one about 10". It's a brown bullhead. As for the cod, have no idea how they do in aquaria.

Tommy Cod
Tomcod_000.jpg


Bullhead (specifically a black bullhead)
bullhead.jpg
 
I have kept bullheads. Wonderful fish in and out of aquaria. The tomcod looks pretty interesting. Maybe I'll try a couple babies from a trap. Will definitely update you guys on how they do, if I do this.

Meanwhile, still trying to figure out whether this "horned pout" is in fact the bullhead or not...
 
Up here, brown bullheads are also known as horned pout. I used to catch them as a kid. In early summer, I would find large groups of juveniles along the shore line. The parents would always be a few feet away. They were easy to maintain.
As sandtiger said, the tomcod is anadromous. The spawn in freshwater in the winter. Often they are caught through the ice while smelt fishing. I sometimes catch a few juveniles in the lower (estuary) part of the river I work on. Never have kept any though. They would need a brackish tank as juveniles.
 
I'm from MA. Tomcod or Tom cod or Tommy Cod is just a name for the atlantic cod (the second half of its scientific name is tomcod)

hornpout is a name for a bullhead.
 
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