386 BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF FISHERIES 



140. Silver hake (Merluccius bilinearis Mitchill) 

 Whiting; New England hake 

 Jordan and Evermaun, 1896-1900, p. 2530. 



Description. — The presence of two separate and well-developed dorsal fins, 

 both soft-rayed, the second much longer than the first, combined with the jugular 

 location of the ventrals, is sufficient field mark to distinguish the silver hake 

 from all other Gulf of Maine fishes except the true hakes (Urophycis, p. 446) . Nor 

 is there any danger of confusing it with any of the latter, for it lacks the chin 

 barbels so characteristic of them, and its ventrals are of the ordinary finlike form, 

 those of the true hakes altered into long feelers. It is a rather slender fish, about 

 6J^ times as long as deep, its body compressed in front of the vent but rounded 

 behind it, with large flat-topped head occupying about one-fourth of the total 

 length, large eye, and wide mouth armed with two or more rows of very sharp 

 recurved teeth, its lower jaw projecting beyond the upper. The first dorsal fin 

 (13 to 14 rays) originates close behind the gill opening. It is roughly an equilateral 

 triangle and is separated by a short space from the second, which is about four 

 times as long (41 rays) but hardly more than half as high and is of very characteristic 

 outline, being deeply emarginate two-thirds of the way back, with its rear section 

 highest and rounded, suggesting an incomplete separation into the three dorsal 

 fins of the cod. The anal fin (40 rays) corresponds in height and outline to the 

 second dorsal, under which it stands. The caudal is square- tipped, the pectorals 

 broad, slightly rounded, and reaching back far enough to overlap the second dorsal. 

 The ventrals, situated slightly in front of the pectorals, are slightly shorter than 

 the latter with about half as many (7) rays. The scales are of moderate size, 

 relatively smaller than those of the true hakes. 



Color. — When fresh caught the silver hake is dark gray, of a brownish cast, 

 showing golden reflections above and with its lower sides and belly silvery, as its 

 name implies. The inside of its mouth is dusky and the lining of its belly is blackish. 



Size. — Maximum length about 2 feet and weight 8 pounds, but adults average 

 only about 14 inches long. 



General range. — Known from the Bahamas to the Grand Banks, from the coast 

 line out to the continental slope, and from tide mark down to about 300 fathoms, 

 most abundantly between Cape Sable and Cape Cod. According to Doctor 

 Huntsman all ostensible reports of its presence in the Gulf of St. Lawrence belong 

 in reality to the other hakes (Urophycis, p. 446), and it is these that are meant 

 when "hake" are spoken of in the earlier publications of the Bureau of Fisheries — 

 for instance, in Baird's (1889) report on the fisheries of eastern North America. 

 The silver hake is represented in Europe by a close relative — the European hake 

 (Merluccius merluccius) — an excellent account of the natural history and migrations 

 of which is given by Le Danois. 53 



Occurrence in the Gulf of Maine. — In season, and allowing for wide fluctuations 

 from year to year, the silver hake is a familiar fish all around the coasts of the Gulf 

 of Maine from western Nova Scotia to Cape Cod. It is common, also, in the south 



»> Notes et Memoirs No. 2, Office Scientiflque et Technique des PGches Maritimes, Juin 1920, 32 pp. Angers. 



