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Merlucciidae is a family of
codCod is the common name for the genus Gadus, belonging to the family Gadidae, and is also used in the common name for various other fishes. Cod is a popular food with a mild flavor, low fat content and a dense, flaky white flesh. Cod livers are processed to make cod liver oil, an important source of...
-like fishes, including most
hakeThe term hake refers to fish in either of:* family Gadidae * family Merlucciidae .An old European source mentions a hake that was transplanted from the coast of Ireland to Cape Cod...
s.
They are native to the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, being common in southern waters off
TasmaniaTasmania is an Australian island and state. It is located south of the eastern side of the continent, from which it is separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania – the 26th largest island in the world – and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 500,000 ,...
and
New ZealandNew Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses , and numerous smaller islands, most notably Stewart Island/Rakiura and the Chatham Islands. The indigenous Māori named New Zealand Aotearoa, commonly translated as The Land of the Long White Cloud...
.
They are large predatory fishes inhabiting the waters of the
continental shelfThe continental shelf is the extended perimeter of each continent and associated coastal plain, and was part of the continent during the glacial periods, but is undersea during interglacial periods such as the current epoch by relatively shallow seas and gulfs. The continental rise is below the...
and upper continental slope, where they feed on small fishes such as
lanternfishLanternfishes are small, deep sea fish of the large family Myctophidae. One of two families in the order Myctophiformes, the Myctophidae are represented by 246 species in 33 genera, and are found in oceans worldwide. They are aptly named after their conspicuous use of bioluminescence...
es. Several species are important commercial fishes, notably the
blue grenadierThe blue grenadier, hoki, blue hake, New Zealand whiptail, whiptail or whiptail hake, Macruronus novaezelandiae, is a merluccid hake of the family Merlucciidae found around southern Australia and New Zealand at depths of between . Its length is between . The meat of the fish is white...
,
Macruronus novaezelandiae, which grows up to 130 cm long, and is fished in sub
antarcticThe Antarctic is the region around the Earth's South Pole, opposite the Arctic region around the North Pole. The Antarctic comprises the continent of Antarctica and the ice shelves, waters and island territories in the Southern Ocean situated south of the Antarctic Convergence...
waters of the southwest Pacific.
Species
There are 23 species in five genera:
- Genus Lyconodes
- Lyconodes argenteus (Goode
George Brown Goode , was an ichthyologist, although most of his time was spent as a museum administrator and he was very interested in the history of science, especially the history of the development of science in America. Goode graduated from Wesleyan University and studied at Harvard University...
& BeanTarleton Hoffman Bean was an American ichthyologist, born at Bainbridge, Pennsylvania. After teaching in a high school, in 1874 he became associated with the United States Fish Commission, working on the Connecticut coast...
, 1896).
- Genus Lyconus
- Lyconus brachycolus Holt & Byrne, 1906.
- Lyconus pinnatus Günther, 1887.
- Genus Macruronus
- Cape grenadier, Macruronus capensis Davies, 1950.
- Macruronus maderensis Maul, 1951.
- Patagonian grenadier, Macruronus magellanicus Lönnberg, 1907.
- Blue grenadier
The blue grenadier, hoki, blue hake, New Zealand whiptail, whiptail or whiptail hake, Macruronus novaezelandiae, is a merluccid hake of the family Merlucciidae found around southern Australia and New Zealand at depths of between . Its length is between . The meat of the fish is white...
, also known as hoki, blue hake, New Zealand whiptail, whiptail, or whiptail hake, Macruronus novaezelandiae (Hector, 1871).
- Genus Merluccius
- Haddock
The haddock or offshore hake is a marine fish distributed on both sides of the North Atlantic. Haddock is a popular food fish, widely fished commercially....
or offshore hake, Merluccius albidus (MitchillSamuel Latham Mitchill was an American physician, naturalist, and politician from New York. He was born in Hempstead, New York...
, 1818).
- Panama hake, Merluccius angustimanus Garman
Samuel Walton Garman was a naturalist/ zoologist from Pennsylvania. He studied under Louis Agassiz. In 1868 he joined an expedition to the American West with John Wesley Powell. He was a friend and regular correspondent of the naturalist Edward Drinker Cope and in 1872 accompanied him on a fossil...
, 1899
- Southern hake, Merluccius australis (Hutton, 1872)
- Silver hake
The silver hake, Atlantic hake or New England hake, Merluccius bilinearis, is a merluccid hake of the genus Merluccius, found in the north west Atlantic Ocean from Maryland to the Newfoundland Banks, at depths of between 55 and 900 m. Its length is about 30 in ....
, Merluccius bilinearis (MitchillSamuel Latham Mitchill was an American physician, naturalist, and politician from New York. He was born in Hempstead, New York...
, 1814)
- Shallow-water cape hake, Merluccius capensis (Davies, 1950)
- South Pacific hake, Merluccius gayi gayi (Guichenot, 1848)
- Peruvian hake, Merluccius gayi peruanus Ginsburg, 1954
- Cortez hake, Merluccius hernandezi Mathews, 1985
- Argentine hake, Merluccius hubbsi Marini, 1933>
- European hake, Merluccius merluccius (Linnaeus
Carl Linnaeus was a Swedish botanist, physician, and zoologist, who laid the foundations for the modern scheme of binomial nomenclature...
, 1758)
- Deep-water cape hake, Merluccius paradoxus Franca, 1960
- Merluccius patagonicus Lloris & Matallanas, 2003
- Benguela hake, Merluccius polli Cadenat, 1950
- North Pacific hake
The North Pacific hake, Pacific hake, or Pacific whiting, Merluccius productus, is a merluccid hake of the genus Merluccius, found in the north east Pacific Ocean from northern Vancouver Island to the northern part of the Gulf of California....
, Pacific hake, or Pacific whiting, Merluccius productus (AyresWilliam Orville Ayres was an American physician and ichthyologist. Born in Connecticut, he studied to become a doctor at Yale University School of Medicine....
, 1855)
- Senegalese hake, Merluccius senegalensis Cadenat, 1950
- Genus Steindachneria
- Luminous hake, Steindachneria argentea Goode
George Brown Goode , was an ichthyologist, although most of his time was spent as a museum administrator and he was very interested in the history of science, especially the history of the development of science in America. Goode graduated from Wesleyan University and studied at Harvard University...
& BeanTarleton Hoffman Bean was an American ichthyologist, born at Bainbridge, Pennsylvania. After teaching in a high school, in 1874 he became associated with the United States Fish Commission, working on the Connecticut coast...
, 1896