Merluccius merluccius

Merluccius merluccius or 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, the Atlantic herring, hence the latter common name. It is found in the eastern Atlantic from Norway and Iceland south to Mauritania and into the Mediterranean Sea. It is an important species in European fisheries and is heavily exploited, with some populations being fished unsustainably.

Merluccius merluccius

Fernando Losada Rodríguez · CC BY-SA 4.0 · via Wikipedia/Commons. May be a photograph of a specimen, or an artist’s reconstruction — an interpretation of a skeleton, since colour and soft tissue are almost never preserved.

On record

Recorded, not inferred
Also called
European hakePBDB
Sits inside
MerlucciusPBDB
Diet
carnivorePBDB, for Gadiformes
Life habit
nektonicPBDB, for Gadiformes
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Gadiformes

Time the record covers

At least 12 million years on record.

The record covers at least 12.8 Mya to 129 ka. No occurrence read is dated outside 33.9 Mya to 11.7 ka.

Eocene — about 0 of 21 occurrencesOligocene — about 2 of 21 occurrencesOligoceneMiocene — about 13 of 21 occurrencesMiocenePliocene — about 3 of 21 occurrencesPleistocene — about 3 of 21 occurrences35–33 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences33–32 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences32–31 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences31–30 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences30–29 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences29–28 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences28–27 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences27–25 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences25–24 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences24–23 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences23–22 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences22–21 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences21–20 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences20–18 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences18–17 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences17–16 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences16–15 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences15–14 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences14–13 Mya — about 2 occurrences13–12 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences12–10 Mya — about 2 occurrences10–9.2 Mya — about 2 occurrences9.2–8.1 Mya — about 2 occurrences8.1–6.9 Mya — about 2 occurrences6.9–5.8 Mya — about 2 occurrences5.8–4.6 Mya — about 2 occurrences4.6–3.5 Mya — about 1 occurrence3.5–2.3 Mya — about 1 occurrence2.3–1.2 Mya — about 1 occurrence1.2–0 Mya — about 1 occurrence12.8 Mya129 ka34.6 Mya0 Mya

21 occurrences of Merluccius merluccius on record, most of them in the Miocene. The Paleobiology Database records this as a living group. Bar height is expected occurrences, not a count: each fossil is spread across the span it is dated to, so a tall narrow bar means tight dating and a low wide one means loose.

When

21 occurrences

These are dates about fossils, not the animal: the record can only begin after it arose and end before it died out, so either end may reach further. Shares are expected occurrences: a fossil dated to a span is counted partly in each period it straddles. More on what this infers.

Found in

3 formations

Hrušky — 48.81°N, 16.63°ESant’Agata Fossili — 45.07°N, 7.94°EArgille Azzurre — 43.31°N, 11.49°E

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The named rock units Merluccius merluccius has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 17 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Merluccius merluccius and its relatives

Miocene

Where Merluccius merluccius and its relatives were recorded in the Miocene.

Found in the same rock

534 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 21 sites for Merluccius merluccius, and this reads all of them. The number is how many of those sites it was catalogued from too. The 24 sharing the most are listed.

This is not a list of everything alive at the time. It is only what has come out of the same ground as this animal and been written down.

Entered from

12 references

Each of the 21 occurrences read was entered from one of these publications, ordered by how many each accounts for. This is not a search for papers mentioning the name. Entries link to doi.org where the Paleobiology Database holds an identifier, and to its own record where it does not. Relayed as the Paleobiology Database holds them, not checked against what they resolve to.

Media and terms

Media content3

Picture of Merluccius merluccius

Credit
Fernando Losada Rodríguez
Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

CT scan

Licence
In Copyright
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record
Specimen
Merluccius senegalensis · CAS:ICH:235494

3D model

Source
Sketchfab
Licence
CC Attribution
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record

Smithsonian Open Access was not reached for this taxon, so this list is what the others held rather than everything there is.

The description on this site

Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0

This is what the site found, which is not the same as what exists.

Keep going

What may have been alongside itMerluccius through timeFormations of the MioceneThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. (Linnaeus 1758)