The Argentine hake (''Merluccius hubbsi'') is a

merluccid hake 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 ...

of the genus ''

Merluccius ''Merluccius'' is a genus of merluccid hakes from the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, where mainly found relatively deep. The generic name is derived from French ''mer'' ("sea") and Latin ''lucius'', " pike." Species The 14 recognized species in th ...

'', found in the southwestern

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

, along the coast of

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

, and

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

. This fish was described by an Argentine ichthyologist, Tomás Marini in 1933. It's very similar to ''

Merluccius merluccius ''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, t ...

'' (European hake), and it can reach a length of 95 cm (but commonly 50-65 cm), and weigh up to 5 kg. It lives at depths from 100 to 200 m, and it feeds on crustaceans, squids and fish (anchovies and smaller hakes). It migrates southwards in spring and northwards in autumn. This fish is usually sold fresh and frozen as one of the main fishing exports of Argentina. A new species of hake, '' Merluccius patagonicus'', was described for the south west Atlantic in 2003. This would be a third hake species in the area in addition to ''M. hubbsi'' and '' M. australis'' but some authorities consider this taxon to be a synonymous with ''M. hubbsi''. Abstract

References

Argentine hake Fish of Argentina Fish of the Western Atlantic Argentine hake {{Gadiformes-stub