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UNDERWATER GUIDE TO MARINE LIFE 



hake. 



Hakes and Gods: Suborder Anacanthini 



These are mostly northern and deep-sea fishes. There are no spines in any of 

 the fins. The vertical fins have been derived from a single, continuous dorsal- 

 caudal-anal fin by breaking this fin into sections. Typically, these sections appear 

 as multiple dorsal and anal fins with a single caudal fin. However, in some eel- 

 like forms such as cusks, there are only single dorsal and anal fins. The better- 

 known members of this suborder are large, voracious fishes, which tend toward 

 bottom feeding. 



HAKES: Family Merluccidae 



This is a small group of the North Atlantic, North Pacific, and Ghilean waters. 

 All the species are extremely voracious, large-mouthed feeders on fishes and 

 larger invertebrates, such as squids and large crustaceans. There are no barbels 

 on the chin. The dorsal fin is divided in two parts (the second part is long and 

 appears to be divided); the anal fin is single. The build is pikelike, and the color 

 is a dull silver-tan. 



SILVER HAKE (whiting) : Merlucchis hilinearis 



Size: Averages a little over 1 foot. Up to 2 feet. 



Weight: Averages a little over 1 pound. 



Distrihiition: From the Grand Banks off Newfoundland to the Bahamas, in 

 deep water. 



Identification: Same as for the family. 



Hahits: This is a schooling dish, most common over sand or pebble bottoms. It 

 comes nearest to shore in autumn during the breeding season, when it lays 

 several thousand pelagic, nonadhesive eggs. It ranges through a great depth of 

 water from the surface to 1,500 feet, in other words, through the whole of the 

 lighted zone of the sea. 



Similar S-pecies: The California hake, Merhiccius prodiictiis, is found from 

 the Gulf of Galifornia to Puget Sound. It is abundant in water of moderate 

 depth and reaches a length of 3 feet. 



CODS: Family Gadidae 



These fishes of the North Atlantic and North Pacific seas have a single chin 

 barbel, a large mouth, and feed mostly near the bottom on a wide variety of 

 animal foods. They are all extremely prolific, laying pelagic, nonadhesive eggs, 

 sometimes literally by the millions. Most of the species travel and feed in very 

 large roving schools and are the object of important fisheries. Some of the deep- 

 water forms have single dorsal and anal fins, but the well-known species have 



