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There are few warriors so renowned for their legendary ferocity as the famous Vikings, though in truth they were as much farmers and traders as bloodthirsty savages.

During the late 8th century, when they first designed and built their elegant and graceful keeled longships - capable of cutting through rough seas and travelling far - they required food to sustain them on their long and often arduous voyages, cod offered the ideal solution.

Whilst they would happily supplement their stores whilst on their travels with fresh caught fish their preference was to preserve it in advance and store it onboard thus ensuring a constant supply throughout their journey.

Not only did this fish sustain them whilst on their travels but it also became an important commodity for export, enabling them to sell and trade their cod throughout Europe, at times haggling and bartering their cargo of white flakey fish for all manner of wines, spices, grain, flour and other desirable goods.

The Atlantic Cod has a long and varied history and is one of the most studied of all the marine fishes.

They are found all around the coasts of Britain and Ireland as far south as the Bay of Biscay, 'tween France and Spain, roaming across the icy waters of the North Atlantic Ocean to the west coast of America, northwards past Greenland, Iceland and onwards yet further through the Norwegian Sea 'til they reach the Barents Sea north of Scandinavia.

Quite a range and all of this done with the assured arrogance of a true apex predator.

The rapacious Atlantic Cod might well be best described as an opportunist diner feeding as it does on almost anything and everything remotely edible that comes within range of its cavernous jaws.

In a futile attempt to satisfy its own insatiable appetite all kinds of sea dwelling creatures are consumed by the gluttonous cod, with prawns, crabs, lobster, herring, sprat, capelin, sand eels, squid, octopus and mussels, to name but a few, all featuring highly on the menu.

In addition, should any additional “supplementary snacks” be required on top of the aforementioned smorgasbord of delights, it's also worth remembering that he will happily consume his fellow cod, for Gadus morhua is no stranger to cannibalism.

The Atlantic Cod is classified as being a demersal fish.

Dependant on water depth there are two oceanic zones - Pelagic and Demersal - with the open ocean being known as the Pelagic zone – both coastal and oceanic - where fish are found swimming closer to the surface in the middle or top levels of water.

Sardines, herring, tuna and shark are examples of these pelagic fish.

On the other hand those fish living close to the sea bed, often in areas with a mud, sand, gravel or rock strewn bottom in deep water, are categorised as being demersal fish with cod belonging to this classification along with the likes of haddock, rays, turbot and halibut.

These demersal fish can be further divided into two groups, the “benthic” fish - those which due to their higher density can rest on the ocean floor and the “benthopelagic” fish which due to having neutral buoyancy, can float at ease within the water column above the sea bed.

Although belonging to the demersal group of fish the cod can also, during certain hydrographic conditions, become pelagic when feeding and during times of spawning.

The colour of their skin is largely determined by their chosen diet and immediate environs with those that feed on shellfish and crustaceans in amongst dense weed and kelp cover displaying a more speckled reddish brown colouration whereas those cod who predominantly feed on fish in open waters tend to have a more greenish blue pigmentation.

The cod is a heavy bodied Goliath of a fish with a disproportionately large head – sometimes making up as much as a quarter of its entire length – with a mouth to match.

The lower jaw sports a single central prominent barbel – a name derived from the latin barbula meaning “little beard”- a whisker like appendage similar to that of a catfish

 The back is dark with mottled blotches and in contrast the underbelly is much paler displaying the typical “countershading” of the marine environment.

This countershading provides great camouflage against predators as when viewed from above the cods dark back merges with the murky depths below and when viewed from below the lighter underbelly fades against the bright oceans surface.

In common with the Pacific Cod (Gadus macrocephalus) – the Atlantic Cod also displays a prominent and clearly defined creamy white lateral line on its flanks running from the tail arching upwards as it moves forward towards the head until it reaches the pectoral fins, just behind the gills.

This lateral line is a system of sensory organs which the cod uses - in common with many other fish - to detect movement, vibrations and changes in pressure within the cods immediate vicinity and in so doing this lateral line plays a critical role in various aspects of the cods spacial awareness, orientation, schooling and predation.

Studies on the feeding habits of cod has shown that any food found in mid water – especially if moving - was always eagerly intercepted by the feeding cod. Whilst very small particles of food - as small as 2mm - were clearly visible to the fish it was food in the 5mm and upwards category that were consistently consumed.

Furthermore these studies revealed that whilst any sizeable food items on the sea bed were discovered by sight, smaller pieces were detected by taste buds located within the cods chin barbel and by the long sensitive pelvic fins as they brushed over the sea bed.

Whilst sweeping over the ocean floor whenever any food morsels were detected - by the cods aforementioned “triple antennae” of chin barbel and pectoral fins – they would immediately back up and consume their prey.

Using this method various fish and invertebrates can be detected - by both taste and smell - and if food is located hiding under gravel or stones then the cod can easily excavate these food items either by carrying away stones in their mouths or simply by pushing any obstacles away with their heads to uncover their food.

Interestingly any food items covered by sand remain undetected.

Once one fish is seen actively feeding others are soon attracted to that same area and any food items too large for a single fish to consume can be pulled apart during any ensuing feeding frenzy.

Fish feeding in groups have a distinct advantage in that when they work together food buried deeper is much more likely to be uncovered.

Interestingly scientific studies have confirmed that cod possess the ability to communicate through a variety of vocalisations including, growls, grunts and thumps by vibrating their swim bladders at differing frequencies.

Further investigation is currently underway to try and establish what these diverse individual sounds relay during these “conversations” between the cod.

It is thought highly probable that they use individual sounds to establish territories, sound the alarm during situations of danger, attract mates and possibly even to act as a signal to stimulate the hen fish to release her eggs so as to synchronise fertilisation by the cock fish.

One fascinating discovery is that the Atlantic Cod which has over the centuries returned to the same well established and traditional breeding ground may have “regional accents”.

This discovery however may well have serious long term consequences for their future sustainability.

With the Atlantic Cod typically being found within their traditional and relatively isolated spawning grounds in the colder areas of the ocean, as water temperatures rise - due to climate change and global warming - the cod from these areas will be forced to move and join together with shoals from other areas in the remaining cold water zones.

This will result in the coming together of different regional shoals for the first time and with these cod having separate dialects this might possibly mean they have little ability to “understand” those cod from outwith their own area.

If the male and female cod meeting for the first time from different zones cannot communicate, or fail to understand each other, this could have a seriously detrimental effect on the Atlantic Cods ability to attract mates, integrate, share territory and successfully reproduce.