English Hake
Merluccius gayi
Also known as: Chilean Hake, Chilean Whiting, Peruvian Hake, Peruvian Whiting, South Pacific Hake
About This Species
A demersal fish of continental shelf and slope waters, typically encountered well offshore over sand or mud bottoms rather than inshore; it hunts smaller fish and squid mainly after dark, moving up in the water column to feed at night and settling closer to the seabed by day. Most people encounter it through commercial or recreational fishing records rather than direct sighting, since its habitat lies in deeper water beyond typical shore or shallow-dive range.
Ethical Viewing Guidelines
- Because its population status is data-deficient, a precautionary approach is appropriate — follow local and national fisheries regulations on size and catch limits rather than assuming the species can absorb unlimited take.
- Where rules are unclear for a specific area, favour restraint or catch-and-release until better information is available, since data-deficient does not mean not at risk.
DDGadiformesMerlucciidae
Seasonal Activity
1,295,235 sightings · 2000–2026
Citizen science records via GBIF
All monthsThis month
Classification
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Order
- Gadiformes
- Family
- Merlucciidae
Photo
(c) Daniel, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Daniel
CC-BY-NC-4.0
Occurrence data from GBIF.