You can sponsor this page

Merluccius paradoxus Franca, 1960

Deep-water Cape hake
Add your observation in Fish Watcher
Native range | All suitable habitat | Point map | Year 2050
This map was computer-generated and has not yet been reviewed.
Merluccius paradoxus   AquaMaps   Data sources: GBIF OBIS
Upload your photos and videos
 Pictures | Google image
Image of Merluccius paradoxus (Deep-water Cape hake)
Merluccius paradoxus
Picture by Bañón Díaz, R.

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).

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

Marine; bathydemersal; non-migratory; depth range 200 - 1000 m (Ref. 6605), usually 400 - ? m (Ref. 58452). Deep-water; 17°S - 38°S, 10°E - 48°E (Ref. 58452)

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

Southeast Atlantic: Cape Frio, Namibia south to the Agulhas Bank and east to East London in South Africa. Western Indian Ocean: Madagascar Ridge (33°S,44°E).

Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm 47.8  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 115 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 27121); common length : 60.0 cm SL male/unsexed; (Ref. 1371)

Short description Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 1; Dorsal soft rays (total): 42 - 50; Anal spines: 0; Anal soft rays: 38 - 41. Body more slender than other hakes. Head large, about 25 to 30% of SL. Gill rakers short and thick with blunt tips. Pectoral fin tips reaching to level of anal fin origin. Color is steel gray on back, grading to silvery white ventrally.

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Found near the bottom. Feeds on fishes, mysids, euphausiids and squids. Young feed mainly on euphausiids, but the diet becomes polyphagous with growth. Cannibalism has been observed in larger individuals (Ref. 9583).

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: Version 2024-1)

Not Evaluated 

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Harmless





Human uses

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

More information

Trophic ecology
Food items
Diet composition
Food consumption
Food rations
Predators
Ecology
Ecology
Population dynamics
Growth parameters
Max. ages / sizes
Length-weight rel.
Length-length rel.
Length-frequencies
Mass conversion
Recruitment
Abundance
Life cycle
Reproduction
Maturity
Maturity/Gills rel.
Fecundity
Spawning
Spawning aggregations
Eggs
Egg development
Larvae
Larval dynamics
Distribution
Countries
FAO areas
Ecosystems
Occurrences
Introductions
BRUVS - Videos
Anatomy
Gill area
Brain
Otolith
Physiology
Body composition
Nutrients
Oxygen consumption
Swimming type
Swimming speed
Visual pigments
Fish sound
Diseases & Parasites
Toxicity (LC50s)
Genetics
Genetics
Heterozygosity
Heritability
Human related
Aquaculture systems
Aquaculture profiles
Strains
Ciguatera cases
Stamps, coins, misc.
Outreach
Collaborators
Taxonomy
Common names
Synonyms
Morphology
Morphometrics
Pictures
References
References

Tools

E-book | Field guide | Identification keys | Length-frequency wizard | Life-history tool | Point map | Classification Tree | Catch-MSY |

Special reports

Check for Aquarium maintenance | Check for Species Fact Sheets | Check for Aquaculture Fact Sheets

Download XML

Summary page | Point data | Common names | Photos

Internet sources

AFORO (otoliths) | Aquatic Commons | BHL | Cloffa | BOLDSystems | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes: genus, species | DiscoverLife | ECOTOX | FAO - Fisheries: species profile; Publication: search | Faunafri | Fishipedia | Fishtrace | GenBank: genome, nucleotide | GloBI | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | MitoFish | 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): 6.2 - 12, mean 7.5 °C (based on 17 cells).
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804):  PD50 = 0.5000   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00513 (0.00336 - 0.00782), b=3.10 (2.97 - 3.23), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this species & Genus-body shape (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level (Ref. 69278):  4.9   ±0.2 se; based on diet studies.
Resilience (Ref. 120179):  Low, minimum population doubling time 4.5 - 14 years (K=0.09-0.12).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  High to very high vulnerability (65 of 100).
Climate Vulnerability (Ref. 125649):  High vulnerability (55 of 100).
Price category (Ref. 80766):   Medium.
Nutrients (Ref. 124155):  Calcium = 7.36 [3.59, 25.05] mg/100g; Iron = 0.274 [0.058, 0.735] mg/100g; Protein = 17.3 [16.1, 18.5] %; Omega3 = 0.146 [0.078, 0.273] g/100g; Selenium = 28 [13, 66] μg/100g; VitaminA = 11.7 [2.4, 55.4] μg/100g; Zinc = 0.186 [0.127, 0.288] mg/100g (wet weight);