Silver hake are iridescent gray brown above, fading to a silvery shade below.
Their large mouth, with a projecting lower jaw, is lined with two or more rows of sharp curved teeth. Silver hake have no chin barbel. Being slender fish, they are five to six times as long as they are deep. They have two separate and well developed dorsal fins, the second being much longer than the first. They also have an extended anal fin, and their ventral fins lack the long feelers that are so obvious on other hakes.