Description: Hake have an elongated body with blue-grey dorsal surface while their sides are a lighter silvery-grey changing to white on the underside. There are often brown blotches on the back or sides. Commonly 20 - 70 cm in length, but they can reach over 140 cm. They have a large, pointed head and jaws with prominent pointed teeth. The inside of the mouth is black. There are two dorsal fins, the first of which is a tall triangle with a single spine, the second is shorter in height, but much longer running down towards the tail. They have a well-developed tail fin. The straight lateral line is clearly visible as a dark line.

Habitat: Usually found between 70 - 400 m depth, close to the seabed but may move higher into water column at night. May occasionally be encountered in shallower water (recorded as shallow as 18 m but this is rare) or down to 1000 m.

Distribution: Records from most coasts of Britain and Ireland, although seems rare in North Sea. Most records are from Irish Sea or Atlantic coasts.

Similar Species: Unlikely to be confused with any other species. Could potentially be confused with a ling (Molva molva) but it has an obvious chin barbel while the hake lacks this.

Key Identification Features:

• Large head and jaws with pointed teeth.
• Black interior of mouth.
• Dark lateral line.
• First dorsal tall triangle with single spine.

Distribution Map from NBN: Merluccius merluccius at National Biodiversity Network mapping facility, data for UK.

iNaturalist: Merluccius merluccius at iNaturalist World Species Observations database.

GBIF data for Merluccius merluccius

WoRMS: Merluccius merluccius at World Register of Marine Species. Accepted name: Merluccius merluccius (Linnaeus, 1758). AphiaID: 126484.

Classification: Biota; Animalia; Chordata; Vertebrata; Gnathostomata; Osteichthyes; Actinopterygii; Actinopteri; Teleostei; Gadiformes; Merlucciidae; Merlucciinae; Merluccius