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Actinopterygii (ray-finned fishes) > Gadiformes (Cods) > Merlucciidae (Merluccid hakes) > Merlucciinae
Etymology: Merluccius: Latin, mar, maris = the sea + Latin, lucius = pike (Ref. 45335).

Environment / Climate / Range Ecology

Marine; demersal; depth range 30 - 1075 m (Ref. 58452), usually 70 - 400 m (Ref. 35388). Temperate, preferred 19°C (Ref. 107945); 76°N - 18°N, 30°W - 42°E (Ref. 58452)

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Point map | Introductions | Faunafri

Eastern Atlantic: Norway and Iceland, southward to Mauritania. Also in the Mediterranean Sea and along the southern coast of the Black Sea.

Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: L_m 42.8, range 20 - 70 cm
Max length : 140 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 1371); common length : 45.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 1371); max. published weight: 15.0 kg (Ref. 1371); max. reported age: 20 years (Ref. 35388)

Short description Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 0; Dorsal soft rays (total): 43-51; Anal soft rays: 36 - 40. Inside of mouth and branchial cavity black. Second dorsal and anal fins notched. First vertebra and neural spine attached to skull. Vertebrae 50-52.

Found usually between 70 and 370 m depth. Adults live close to the bottom during day-time, but move off-bottom at night. Adults feed mainly on fish (small hakes, anchovies, pilchard, herrings, cod fishes, sardines and gadoid species) and squids. The young feed on crustaceans (especially euphausiids and amphipods). Are batch spawners (Ref. 51846). Almost entirely marketed fresh, whole or filleted, to specialized restaurants or retail markets (Ref. 58452). Utilized fresh, dried or salted and frozen; can be steamed, fried, microwaved and baked (Ref. 9988). Stocks seem to be over-fished (Ref. 35388).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae

Continuous recruitment of oocytes connotes indeterminate fecundity for this species (Ref. 79799).

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator | Collaborators

Cohen, D.M., T. Inada, T. Iwamoto and N. Scialabba, 1990. FAO species catalogue. Vol. 10. Gadiform fishes of the world (Order Gadiformes). An annotated and illustrated catalogue of cods, hakes, grenadiers and other gadiform fishes known to date. FAO Fish. Synop. 125(10). Rome: FAO. 442 p. (Ref. 1371)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 115185)

Least Concern (LC)

CITES (Ref. 94142)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

Harmless

Human uses

Fisheries: highly commercial

FAO(fisheries: production, species profile; publication : search) | FIRMS (Stock assessments) | FisheriesWiki | Sea Around Us

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Merluccius merluccius (Linnaeus, 1758)