 the term hake  refers to fish in either of: * family phycidae (sometimes subfamily phycinae in family gadidae) of the northern oceans * family merlucciidae of northern and southern oceans thumb|grilled hake ==hake== hake may be found within the same taxonomic order as (gadiformes) as cod and haddock. it is a medium to large fish averaging between 1 to 8 pounds in weight, with specimens as large as 60 lbs. the fish can grow up to 1 metre in length with a lifespan as long as 14 years. hake may be found in the atlantic ocean and pacific ocean in waters between 200â350 meters (650-1150 feet) deep. the fish stay in deep sea water during the day and come to shallower depths during the night. an undiscerning predator, hake feed on their prey found near or on the bottom of the sea. male and female hake are very similar in appearance. after spawning, the hake eggs float on the surface of the sea where the larvae develop. after a certain period of time, the baby hake then migrate to the bottom of the sea, preferring depths of less than 200 m. a total of 12 hake species are known in the family merlucciidae: *european hake (merluccius merluccius) found in the mediterranean and black sea *argentine hake (merluccius hubbsi), found in argentina *southern hake (merluccius australis), found in chile *offshore hake (merluccius albidus), found in usa *benguela hake (merluccius poli), found in south africa *shallow-water hake (merluccius capensis), found in southern atlantic *deep-water hake (merluccius paradoxus) found in southern atlantic *gayi hake (merluccius gayi), found in north pacific *silver hake (merluccius bilinearis), found in northwest atlantic *north pacific hake (merluccius productus), found in north pacific *panama hake (merluccius angustimanus), found in mediterranean sea *senegalese hake (merluccius senegalensis), found in atlantic coast of western north africa not all hake species are viewed as commercially important, but the deep-water and shallow-water hakes are known to grow rapidly and make up the majority of harvested species. ==c
Edible_fish Fish_common_names Gadidae Merlucciidae