Merlucciidae is a family of cod

Cod

Cod is the common name for genus Gadus, belonging to the family Gadidae, and is also used in the common name for various other fishes. Cod is a popular food with a mild flavor, low fat content and a dense, flaky white flesh. Cod livers are processed to make cod liver oil, an important source of...

-like fish, including most hake

Hake

The term hake refers to fish in either of:* family Phycidae of the northern oceans* family Merlucciidae of the southern oceans-Hake fish:...

s.
They are native to the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, being common in southern waters off Tasmania

Tasmania

Tasmania is an Australian island and state. It is south of the continent, separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania—the 26th largest island in the world—and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 507,626 , of whom almost half reside in the greater Hobart...

 and New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

.

They are large predatory fish inhabiting the waters of the continental shelf

Continental shelf

The continental shelf is the extended perimeter of each continent and associated coastal plain. Much of the shelf was exposed during glacial periods, but is now submerged under relatively shallow seas and gulfs, and was similarly submerged during other interglacial periods. The continental margin,...

 and upper continental slope, where they feed on small fish such as lanternfish

Lanternfish

Cooper Lanternfishes are small mesopelagic fish of the large family Myctophidae. One of two families in the order Myctophiformes, the Myctophidae are represented by 246 species in 33 genera, and are found in oceans worldwide. They are aptly named after their conspicuous use of bioluminescence...

es. Several species are important commercial fish, notably the blue grenadier

Blue grenadier

The blue grenadier, hoki, blue hake, New Zealand whiptail, whiptail or whiptail hake, Macruronus novaezelandiae, is a merluccid hake of the family Merlucciidae found around southern Australia and New Zealand at depths of between . Its length is between...

, Macruronus novaezelandiae, which grows up to 130 cm long, and is fished in subantarctic

Antarctic

The Antarctic is the region around the Earth's South Pole, opposite the Arctic region around the North Pole. The Antarctic comprises the continent of Antarctica and the ice shelves, waters and island territories in the Southern Ocean situated south of the Antarctic Convergence...

 waters of the southwest Pacific.

Species

There are 23 species in five genera:

• Genus Lyconodes
  • Lyconodes argenteus (Goode
    George Brown Goode
    George Brown Goode , was an ichthyologist, although most of his time was spent as a museum administrator and he was very interested in the history of science, especially the history of the development of science in America. Goode graduated from Wesleyan University and studied at Harvard University...
    
     & Bean
    Tarleton Hoffman Bean
    Tarleton Hoffman Bean was an American ichthyologist, born at Bainbridge, Pennsylvania on 8 October 1846. He died in Albany, New York on 28 December 1916.-FAMILY AND EDUCATION :...
    
    , 1896).
• Genus Lyconus
  • Lyconus brachycolus (Holt & Byrne, 1906)
  • Lyconus pinnatus (Günther, 1887)
• Genus Macruronus
  • Cape grenadier, Macruronus capensis (Davies, 1950).
  • Macruronus maderensis (Maul, 1951)
  • Patagonian grenadier, Macruronus magellanicus (Lönnberg, 1907)
  • Blue grenadier
    Blue grenadier
    The blue grenadier, hoki, blue hake, New Zealand whiptail, whiptail or whiptail hake, Macruronus novaezelandiae, is a merluccid hake of the family Merlucciidae found around southern Australia and New Zealand at depths of between . Its length is between...
    
    , also known as hoki, blue hake, New Zealand whiptail, whiptail, or whiptail hake, Macruronus novaezelandiae (Hector, 1871).
• Genus Merluccius
  • Haddock
    Haddock
    The haddock , also known as the offshore hake, is a marine fish distributed on both sides of the North Atlantic. Haddock is a popular food fish and is widely fished commercially....
    
     or offshore hake, Merluccius albidus (Mitchill
    Samuel Latham Mitchill
    Samuel Latham Mitchill was an American physician, naturalist, and politician from New York. He was born in Hempstead, New York...
    
    , 1818).
  • Panama hake, Merluccius angustimanus Garman, 1899
  • Southern hake, Merluccius australis (Hutton, 1872)
  • Silver hake
    Silver hake
    The silver hake, Atlantic hake or New England hake, Merluccius bilinearis, is a merluccid hake of the genus Merluccius, found in the northwest Atlantic Ocean from Maryland to the Newfoundland Banks, at depths of between 55 and 900 m. Its length is about 30 in ....
    
    , Merluccius bilinearis (Mitchill
    Samuel Latham Mitchill
    Samuel Latham Mitchill was an American physician, naturalist, and politician from New York. He was born in Hempstead, New York...
    
    , 1814)
  • Shallow-water cape hake, Merluccius capensis
    Merluccius capensis
    The Shallow-water Cape hake is a merluccid hake of the genus Merluccius, found in the south-eastern Atlantic Ocean, along the coast of South Africa. Its range extends southwards around the coast and into the Indian Ocean. On the east coast it is less abundant and Merluccius capensis is rarely...
    
    (Castelnau, 1861)
  • South Pacific hake, Merluccius gayi
    Merluccius gayi
    The South Pacific hake and the Peruvian hake are two subspecies of merluccid hake of the genus Merluccius, found in the south-western Pacific Ocean, along the coast of South America, from Peru to the Chilean coasts up to the Chiloé Archipelago...
    
     gayi (Guichenot, 1848)
  • Peruvian hake, Merluccius gayi
    Merluccius gayi
    The South Pacific hake and the Peruvian hake are two subspecies of merluccid hake of the genus Merluccius, found in the south-western Pacific Ocean, along the coast of South America, from Peru to the Chilean coasts up to the Chiloé Archipelago...
    
     peruanus (Ginsburg, 1954)
  • Cortez hake, Merluccius hernandezi (Mathews, 1985)
  • Argentine hake, Merluccius hubbsi
    Merluccius hubbsi
    The Argentine hake is a merluccid hake of the genus Merluccius, found in the southwestern Atlantic Ocean, along the coast of Argentina....
    
    (Marini, 1933)
    
  • European hake, Merluccius merluccius
    Merluccius merluccius
    The European hake is a merluccid hake of the genus Merluccius. It sometimes was called the "herring hake", perhaps because it often feeds on herring and therefore is likely to be netted along with herring...
    
    (Linnaeus
    Carolus Linnaeus
    Carl Linnaeus , also known after his ennoblement as , was a Swedish botanist, physician, and zoologist, who laid the foundations for the modern scheme of binomial nomenclature. He is known as the father of modern taxonomy, and is also considered one of the fathers of modern ecology...
    
    , 1758)
  • Deep-water cape hake, Merluccius paradoxus
    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...
    
    (Franca, 1960)
  • Merluccius patagonicus (Lloris & Matallanas, 2003)
  • Benguela hake, Merluccius polli (Cadenat, 1950)
  • North Pacific hake
    North Pacific hake
    The North Pacific hake, Pacific hake, or Pacific whiting, Merluccius productus, is a merluccid hake of the genus Merluccius, found in the north east Pacific Ocean from northern Vancouver Island to the northern part of the Gulf of California....
    
    , Pacific hake, or Pacific whiting, Merluccius productus (Ayres
    William Orville Ayres
    William Orville Ayres was an American physician and ichthyologist. Born in Connecticut, he studied to become a doctor at Yale University School of Medicine....
    
    , 1855)
  • Senegalese hake, Merluccius senegalensis (Cadenat, 1950)
• Genus Steindachneria
  • Luminous hake, Steindachneria argentea (Goode
    George Brown Goode
    George Brown Goode , was an ichthyologist, although most of his time was spent as a museum administrator and he was very interested in the history of science, especially the history of the development of science in America. Goode graduated from Wesleyan University and studied at Harvard University...
    
     & Bean
    Tarleton Hoffman Bean
    Tarleton Hoffman Bean was an American ichthyologist, born at Bainbridge, Pennsylvania on 8 October 1846. He died in Albany, New York on 28 December 1916.-FAMILY AND EDUCATION :...
    
    , 1896)