Southern Hake
Merluccius australis
Also known as: Chilean Hake, Hake, Patagonian Hake
About This Species
This large hake inhabits cold, deep continental shelf and slope waters off southern South America and around New Zealand, typically well beyond casual observation from shore, so most people encounter it through fisheries records rather than direct sighting. It is a demersal predator associated with soft sea-bottom habitat at considerable depth, and its movements are tied to seasonal spawning aggregations rather than any single easily observed behaviour. There is little practical basis for describing a best viewing window for a species that lives almost entirely out of sight of surface observers.
Ethical Viewing Guidelines
- Because this is a deep-water fish rarely encountered outside commercial or scientific fishing contexts, general wildlife-viewing distance guidance does not really apply, and any encounter is most likely to occur through fisheries rather than observation.
- Its IUCN status has not been formally evaluated, so no conservation designation currently governs handling, but regional fisheries regulations in the countries bordering its range may still apply to any capture or landing.
- Anyone encountering this species should defer to local fisheries and marine wildlife authorities rather than general viewing advice.
Seasonal Activity
407,258 sightings · 2000–2025
Citizen science records via GBIF
Classification
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Order
- Gadiformes
- Family
- Merlucciidae
Photo
(c) Rawpixel Ltd, some rights reserved (CC BY)
CC-BY-4.0
Occurrence data from GBIF.