Melanogrammus

Melanogrammus is a genus of saltwater ray-finned fish, family Gadidae, order Gadiformes, and is monotypic, containing only the haddock, Melanogrammus aeglefinus. The genus name means black line in Greek, referencing the species' distinctive oval black blotch, often called a thumbprint, between its lateral line and pectoral fin; the fish also has a wedge-shaped snout, three dorsal fins and two anal fins. Haddock inhabit the North Atlantic Ocean, ranging in the eastern Atlantic from the Bay of Biscay north to Spitsbergen with major populations in the North Sea, near Iceland, the Faroe Islands and along the Norwegian coast, and in the western Atlantic from western Greenland south to Cape Hatteras, with major commercial stocks off Cape Cod and the Grand Banks of Newfoundland. The species is classified as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List.