Merluccius gayi, South Pacific hake : fisheries
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Merluccius gayi (Guichenot, 1848)

South Pacific hake
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Merluccius gayi
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Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Teleostei (teleosts) > Gadiformes (Cods) > Merlucciidae (Merluccid hakes)
Etymology: Merluccius: Latin, mar, maris = the sea + Latin, lucius = pike (Ref. 45335).
More on author: Guichenot.

Issue
A different species/subspecies is recognized on the Peruvian coasts Etropus peruanus Ginsburg, 1954, that is recognized in FishBase as a provisionally valid species. More studies are needed to clearly differentiate it (March 2021).

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Marine; bathydemersal; oceanodromous; depth range 50 - 500 m (Ref. 1371). Deep-water; 5°S - 46°S, 81°W - 69°E (Ref. 54583)

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

Southeast Pacific: off the coast of Chile from Arica to Chiloé Island.

Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?, range 32 - ? cm
Max length : 87.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 1371); common length : 50.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 1371)

Short description Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 1; Dorsal soft rays (total): 45-54; Anal spines: 0; Anal soft rays: 36 - 42; Vertebrae: 49 - 53. Caudal fin margin usually concave. Color is silvery on back, silvery whitish on belly. M. gayi gayi and M. gayi peruanus differ by the total number of vertebrae, total number of gill rakers and relative length of head (Ref. 1371).

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Occurs from the shallow continental shelf to the upper continental slope (Ref. 1371). Sometimes found off the bottom or in midwater (Ref. 1371). Migrates vertically to midwater at night to feed on fishes, squids and euphausiids (Ref. 27363). Moves to southern coastal areas in summer and migrates to northern deeper waters (200-500 m depth) in winter and spring (Ref. 27363). Spawning occurs at the end of the winter and during the southern spring (Ref. 58452). Marketed fresh and frozen (Ref. 1371) and eaten steamed, fried, boiled and microwaved (Ref. 9988). Also utilized as fishmeal (Ref. 1371).

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

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. 130435)

  Data deficient (DD) ; Date assessed: 01 May 2008

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Harmless





Human uses

Fisheries: highly commercial
FAO - Fisheries: landings, species profile; Publication: search | FishSource | Sea Around Us

More information

Countries
FAO areas
Ecosystems
Occurrences
Introductions
Stocks
Ecology
Diet
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Food consumption
Ration
Common names
Synonyms
Metabolism
Predators
Ecotoxicology
Reproduction
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Spawning
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Fecundity
Eggs
Egg development
Age/Size
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Length-weight
Length-length
Length-frequencies
Morphometrics
Morphology
Larvae
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Mass conversion
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Ciguatera
Speed
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Gill area
Otoliths
Brains
Vision

Tools

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Internet sources

AFORO (otoliths) | Aquatic Commons | BHL | Cloffa | BOLDSystems | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes: genus, species | DiscoverLife | ECOTOX | FAO - Fisheries: landings, species profile; Publication: search | Faunafri | Fishipedia | Fishtrace | GenBank: genome, nucleotide | GloBI | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | MitoFish | OsteoBase: skull, spine | Otolith Atlas of Taiwan Fishes | PubMed | Reef Life Survey | Socotra Atlas | Tree of Life | Wikipedia: Go, Search | World Records Freshwater Fishing | Zoological Record

Estimates based on models

Preferred temperature (Ref. 123201): 9.3 - 14, mean 10.9 °C (based on 38 cells).
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804):  PD50 = 0.5000   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.01413 (0.00630 - 0.03168), b=3.05 (2.85 - 3.25), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this species & (Sub)family-body (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level (Ref. 69278):  4.3   ±0.6 se; based on diet studies.
Resilience (Ref. 120179):  Medium, minimum population doubling time 1.4 - 4.4 years (K=0.1-0.2; tm=2).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  High vulnerability (61 of 100).
Climate Vulnerability (Ref. 125649):  High vulnerability (62 of 100).
Price category (Ref. 80766):   Low.
Nutrients (Ref. 124155):  Calcium = 8.76 [3.94, 31.98] mg/100g; Iron = 0.342 [0.068, 0.925] mg/100g; Protein = 17.6 [16.3, 18.9] %; Omega3 = 0.216 [0.103, 0.404] g/100g; Selenium = 22 [10, 49] μg/100g; VitaminA = 11.9 [2.5, 54.2] μg/100g; Zinc = 0.223 [0.154, 0.356] mg/100g (wet weight); based on nutrient studies.