''Merluccius senegalensis'', the Senegalese hake, is a species of fish from the

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

Merlucciidae The Merlucciidae, commonly called merluccid hakes , are a family of cod-like fish, including most hakes. available for download at http://www.fao.org They are native to cold water in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, and typically are found at de ...

, the true hakes. It is found in the sub tropical waters of the eastern Atlantic Ocean off the north western coast of Africa.

Description

''Merluccius senegalensis'' is a rather long-headed species in which the head is 24.9% to 27.7% of the fish's standard length. The total number of

gill rakers Gill rakers in fish are bony or cartilaginous processes that project from the branchial arch (gill arch) and are involved with suspension feeding tiny prey. They are not to be confused with the gill filaments that compose the fleshy part of the ...

is 13-18 on the on first arch. The anterior

dorsal fin A dorsal fin is a fin located on the back of most marine and freshwater vertebrates within various taxa of the animal kingdom. Many species of animals possessing dorsal fins are not particularly closely related to each other, though through conv ...

has a single spine and 9 to 10 fin rays and the posterior dorsal fin has 38-41 fin rays> The

anal fin Fins are distinctive anatomical features composed of bony spines or rays protruding from the body of a fish. They are covered with skin and joined together either in a webbed fashion, as seen in most bony fish, or similar to a flipper, as se ...

has 37-40 fin rays and the tips of

pectoral fin Fins are distinctive anatomical features composed of bony spines or rays protruding from the body of a fish. They are covered with skin and joined together either in a webbed fashion, as seen in most bony fish, or similar to a flipper, as ...

s normally extend to the origin of anal fin. The margin of the

caudal fin Fins are distinctive anatomical features composed of bony spines or rays protruding from the body of a fish. They are covered with skin and joined together either in a webbed fashion, as seen in most bony fish, or similar to a flipper, as se ...

is normally truncated, but as the fish grows it becomes progressively emarginate. It has small scales, with 124-155 scales along the

lateral line The lateral line, also called the lateral line organ (LLO), is a system of sensory organs found in fish, used to detect movement, vibration, and pressure gradients in the surrounding water. The sensory ability is achieved via modified epithelial ...

. They are steel grey to blackish dorsally with the lateral and ventral surfaces being silvery white. The inside of the mouth and tongue are blackish and there is a split black mark on the submandibular fold. The maximum length is 81 cm but the more common length is around 42 cm, males are smaller than females.

Distribution

''Merluccius senegalensis'' is found along the Atlantic coast of western North Africa, from Cape Cantin at 33°N to

Cape Roxo Cape Roxo ( pt, Cabo Roxo, french: Cap Roxo), is a headland in West Africa, marking the westernmost frontier of Guinea-Bissau with Senegal. On the lower side is the São Domingos district of the Cacheu Region of the Republic of Guinea-Bissau, a ...

at 10°N. It is partially

sympatric In biology, two related species or populations are considered sympatric when they exist in the same geographic area and thus frequently encounter one another. An initially interbreeding population that splits into two or more distinct species sh ...

with the

European hake ''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, th ...

(''M. merluccius'') in the northern part of its range and with of '' M. polli'' in the southern part. It distribution changes through the year with a southerly movement in October to April and a return northwards in August.

Habitat and biology

''Merluccius senegalensis'' is a

bathypelagic The bathypelagic zone or bathyal zone (from Greek βαθύς (bathýs), deep) is the part of the open ocean that extends from a depth of below the ocean surface. It lies between the mesopelagic above, and the abyssopelagic below. The bathypelagic ...

and

demersal The demersal zone is the part of the sea or ocean (or deep lake) consisting of the part of the water column near to (and significantly affected by) the seabed and the benthos. The demersal zone is just above the benthic zone and forms a layer of ...

species which prefers to live the over sandy or muddy substrates at relatively shallow depths between about 18m and 500 m. The spawning period most likely takes place from January to March at depths of around 300m and at temperatures of about 12 °C. The main prey is fish such as '' Synagrops microlepis'', the Shortnose greeneye (''Chlorophthalmus agassizi''), the

Cunene horse mackerel The Cunene horse mackerel (''Trachurus trecae'') is a species named after mackerel in the family Carangidae The Carangidae are a family of ray-finned fish which includes the jacks, pompanos, jack mackerels, runners, and scads. It is the larg ...

(''Trachurus trecae''),

mackerel Mackerel is a common name applied to a number of different species of pelagic fish, mostly from the family Scombridae. They are found in both temperate and tropical seas, mostly living along the coast or offshore in the oceanic environment. ...

, whiptails,

lanternfish Lanternfishes (or myctophids, from the Greek μυκτήρ ''myktḗr'', "nose" and ''ophis'', "serpent") are small mesopelagic fish of the large family Myctophidae. One of two families in the order Myctophiformes, the Myctophidae are represente ...

and merlucids; as well as crustaceans including ''Munida iris'', ''Parapenaeus longirostris'', ''Plesionika edwardsii'' and ''Plesionika heterocarpus''; and

cephalopods A cephalopod is any member of the molluscan class Cephalopoda (Greek plural , ; "head-feet") such as a squid, octopus, cuttlefish, or nautilus. These exclusively marine animals are characterized by bilateral body symmetry, a prominent head, an ...

. Females attain sexual maturity at about 39 cm while males reach sexual maturity between 22 cm and 28 cm.

Fisheries

It was formerly targeted by fishing vessels from Spain, Portugal and the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

but since Morocco and Mauritania declared economic exclusion zones, fishing has been restricted to local fleets. This species tends not to be reported separately and mixed catches of this species with the

(''Merluccius merluccius'') and '' M. polli''. It is also taken as by catch in fisheries for cephalopods and other species. The

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...

currently list ''M. senegalensis'' as

Endangered An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching and inva ...

as it is thought that its population probably declined by between 50-80% in the three generations up to 2015.

References

{{Taxonbar, from = Q2100255 Merluccius Fish described in 1950