Merluccius capensis

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Shallow-water Cape hake
Merluccius capensis.jpg
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Gadiformes
Family: Merlucciidae
Genus: Merluccius
Species:
M. capensis
Binomial name
Merluccius capensis
Castelnau, 1861
Global capture production of Cape hakes (Merluccius capensis, M.paradoxus) in million tonnes from 1950 to 2022, as reported by the FAO Cape hakes, capture production, million tonnes, 1950-2022.svg
Global capture production of Cape hakes (Merluccius capensis, M.paradoxus) in million tonnes from 1950 to 2022, as reported by the FAO

Merluccius capensis (shallow-water Cape hake or South African hake) is a ray-finned fish in the genus Merluccius , found in the south-eastern Atlantic Ocean, along the coast of South Africa. It is a long, lean fish with a large head, similar in appearance to the European hake and the deep-water Cape hake. By day, it lives close to the bottom on the continental shelf and upper slope at depths not usually exceeding 400 m (1,300 ft); it makes a large, daily vertical migration rising at night to feed in the nectonic zone, and it also migrates southwards in spring and northwards in autumn. It is an important commercial fish species in southern Africa.

Contents

Description

Very similar to Merluccius merluccius (European hake) and Merluccius paradoxus (the deep-water Cape hake), M. capensis has an average length around 50 cm, up to a maximum around 120 cm (47 in). It is a long, lean fish with a large head, light brown above and white or silvery below. The first dorsal fin has a single spine and 9 to 11 soft rays, while the second has 38 to 43 soft rays. The anal fin has no spines and 37 to 41 soft rays. The caudal fin has a flat end or is slightly concave. [3]

Distribution

Its range extends southwards around the coast and into the Indian Ocean. On the east coast, it is less abundant and is rarely found in significant numbers north of KwaZulu-Natal. On the west coast, M. capensis occurs as far north as Benguela in Angola, where its distribution overlaps that of Merluccius polli , the Benguela hake. It lives close to the bottom on the continental shelf and upper slope at depths from 50 to 500 m, usually not below 400 m. Its preferred depth partly overlaps that of Merluccius paradoxus between depths of 200 and 400 m.

In South Africa, M. capensis is one of the most important commercial food fishes. Caught via demersal trawling, the associated industry is represented by the South Africa Deep Sea Trawling Industries Association (SADSTIA). It is known locally (from the Afrikaans stokvis) as stockfish, [4] not to be confused with the dried cod usually known by that name.

Ecology

The shallow-water Cape hake might be classified as a euryphagous carnivore; immature specimens feed on small, deep-sea fishes and crustaceans. Large hake feed on squid and fishes, as well; smaller hake and jack mackerel are major components of their diet. [5]

The shallow-water Cape hake migrates vertically, daily, being demersal by day and nektonic by night. On a seasonal basis, it migrates southwards in spring and northwards in autumn. Spawning is variably reported either to be year-round, or to occur mainly from mid-spring to early summer.

The Cape hake is often fished together with the species Merluccius paradoxus , which generally lives at greater depths. Most reported catches combine both species, but the range of M. capensis continues towards the north-west coast of southern Africa, in the region of Angola, where, for practical purposes, M. paradoxus does not occur. [5]

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<i>Merluccius</i> Genus of fishes

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<i>Merluccius merluccius</i> Species of fish

Merluccius merluccius, the European hake, is a merluccid hake of the genus Merluccius. Other vernacular names include Cornish salmon and herring hake. It is a predatory species, which was often netted alongside one of its favoured prey, the Atlantic herring, hence the latter common name. It is found in the eastern Atlantic from Norway and Iceland south to Mauritania and into the Mediterranean Sea. It is an important species in European fisheries and is heavily exploited, with some populations being fished unsustainably.

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Merluccius gayi is a merluccid hake of the genus Merluccius, with two subspecies, the South Pacific hake or Chilean common hake and the Peruvian hake, found in the south-western Pacific Ocean, along the coast of South America, from Peru to the Chilean coasts north to the Chiloé Archipelago. During the Southern Hemisphere summer, it migrates southwards in shallow waters, while in the winter, it lives more to the north, in far deeper waters.

Merluccius paradoxus, the deep-water Cape hake, is a merluccid hake of the genus Merluccius, found in the south-eastern Atlantic Ocean, along the coast of Southern Africa, south of Angola. Its range extends in decreasing abundance around the southern coast of Africa and into the Indian Ocean, but it is at its most plentiful in the cold, nutrient-rich fishing grounds of the Benguela Current.

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Merluccius australis, the southern hake, is a species of fish from the family Merlucciidae, the true hakes. It is found in the southern Pacific and Atlantic Oceans with two disjunct populations, one around southern South America and the other in the waters around New Zealand.

Merluccius polli, the Benguela hake, is a species of fish from the family Merlucciidae, the true hakes. It is found in the tropical waters of the eastern Atlantic Ocean off the west coast of Africa.

Merluccius senegalensis, the Senegalese hake, is a species of fish from the family Merlucciidae, the true hakes. It is found in the sub tropical waters of the eastern Atlantic Ocean off the north western coast of Africa.

<i>Argyrosomus inodorus</i> Silver kob, a fish in the drum family Sciaenidae

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<i>Diplodus capensis</i> Species of fish

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<i>Stomias boa</i> Species of fish

Stomias boa, also known as the boa dragonfish, scaly dragonfish, dragon-boa or boa scaly dragonfish, is a species of deep-sea fish in the family Stomiidae. It is found at great depths worldwide in tropical to temperate oceans but is absent from the northern Pacific and northwest Atlantic Oceans.

References

  1. Iwamoto, T. (2015). "Merluccius capensis". The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2015: e.T15522216A15603600. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2015-4.RLTS.T15522216A15603600.en .
  2. "Fisheries and Aquaculture - Global Production". Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). Retrieved 2024-05-06.
  3. "Merluccius capensis (Castelnau, 1861)". FAO. Retrieved 23 January 2016.
  4. Smith, Margaret M.; Heemstra, Philip C. (1995). Smiths' sea fishes. Grahamstown, South Africa: Southern Book Publishers. ISBN   978-1-86812-032-1.
  5. 1 2 Lloris, Domingo (2005). Hakes of the world (family Merlucciidae) : an annotated and illustrated catalogue of hake species known to date. Rome: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. ISBN   978-92-5-104984-6. available for download at http://www.fao.org