Diagnostic Description
provided by Fishbase
Body more slender than other hakes. Pectoral fins long and slender, stripe reaching anal fin in young individuals but not in fish over 50 cm in SL. Gill rakers short and thick with blunt tips. Color is steel gray on back grading to silvery white ventrally.
Migration
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Oceanodromous. Migrating within oceans typically between spawning and different feeding areas, as tunas do. Migrations should be cyclical and predictable and cover more than 100 km.
Morphology
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Dorsal spines (total): 1; Dorsal soft rays (total): 48 - 57; Analspines: 0; Analsoft rays: 40 - 46; Vertebrae: 53 - 58
Trophic Strategy
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Found on the continental slope (Ref. 75154).
Biology
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Found at depths between 415 and 1000 m in New Zealand waters, and 62 to 800 m in South American waters. The Patagonian population feeds on southern blue whiting, whiptail, nototheniids and squids. The New Zealand population feeds mainly on fishes (especially gadoids), squids, euphausiids and benthic organisms. Adults probably migrate southward during the southern summer for feeding and return to the north in winter for spawning (Ref. 1371). Spawning takes place from August to September on the western coast of South Island, from September to November in the northern part of the Campbell Plateau, and between November and January on Chatham Rise (Ref. 58452). Utilized as food fish and fishmeal.
Importance
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fisheries: highly commercial; price category: medium; price reliability: reliable: based on ex-vessel price for this species