Appears in
Oxford Companion to Food

By Alan Davidson

Published 2014

  • About

burbot Lota lota, the only freshwater species of the cod family, has a range which extends right round the northern regions of the northern hemisphere. It can tolerate brackish waters, and is thus found in the Finnish archipelagos of the E. Baltic. Maximum length (reported from Siberia) 125 cm (50"), but specimens in the markets are unlikely to exceed a third of this length and will weigh 500 g (18 oz) or less. Coloration is drab, except for the so-called ‘golden burbot’, which are reddish yellow.