Merluccius polli
| Merluccius polli | ||||||||||||
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Merluccius polli | ||||||||||||
| Cadenat , 1950 |
Merluccius polli is a species of fish from the hake family(Merlucciidae) and occurs in the eastern Atlantic .
features
Merluccius polli is an average of 40 centimeters, maximum 80 centimeters long. The head of the fish is large and flatter towards the mouth, its pectoral fins usually extend to the beginning of the anal fins in small specimens . In larger individuals, it is no longer sufficient for the attachment of the anal fins. These hake turn black on the back and steel gray on the belly, with some fish this can be darker and they can also turn black on the belly. The caudal fin, on the other hand, has white edges, the dorsal fin has a hard and 45 to 52 soft fin rays.
distribution
This fish is native to the eastern Atlantic, off the coast of tropical West Africa. Its area of distribution starts in the north with the Canary Islands and extends south to Angola and Cape Fria .
Way of life
This bottom-living fish can be found above the continental shelf of the west coast of Africa at depths of 50 to 910 meters, mostly between 50 and 550 meters. The deeper this fish lives, the bigger it can get. There he feeds on small fish, squid and shrimp. Female fish reach sexual maturity at a length of 44 centimeters.
Danger
Since this species is not as commercially valuable as other hake along the west coast of Africa, its population is stable. Between 350 and 550 meters sea depth, it is the most common fish off the coast of Angola. However, it is fished off the coast of Angola and has high yields every year. Merluccius polli is often caught as bycatch of its conspecifics for example the Cape hake or Merluccius paradoxus but also in the shrimp fishery. Since 2000, the catch rates have remained quite low, below 8000 tons. Therefore, this species is classified as not endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) , but you should keep the yields low and monitor them to avoid exploitation.
supporting documents
- ↑ a b c d Merluccius polli in the Red List of Threatened Species of the IUCN 2017-2. Posted by: Iwamoto, T., 2012-07-12.
- ↑ a b c Merluccius polli on Fishbase.org (English)