deep-water Cape hake

Open encyclopedia reference

Merluccius paradoxus, the deep-water Cape hake, is a merluccid hake of the genus Merluccius, found in the south-eastern Atlantic Ocean, along the coast of Southern Africa, south of Angola. Its range extends in decreasing abundance around the southern coast of Africa and into the Indian Ocean, but it is at its most plentiful in the cold, nutrient-rich fishing grounds of the Benguela Current. In South Africa, in combination with Merluccius capensis, the shallow-water Cape hake, it is one of the most important commercial food fishes and locally is generally known as "stockfish" (this English name being derived from the Afrikaans stokvis). Very similar to M. merluccius (European hake), it has an average length of 40–60 cm, up to a maximum of about 80 cm. It lives close to the bottom in muddy areas on the continental shelf and slope. It usually is to be found at depths of 200 to 850 m, although most commonly below 400 m. Immature specimens feed on small deep-sea fishes and crustaceans, especially Euphausiacea.

Wikipedia contributors, Merluccius paradoxus; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T09:02:57.413664+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.

Identity & source status

Scientific name

Merluccius paradoxus Franca, 1960

Name authority

Franca, 1960

Common name

deep-water Cape hake

Rank

species

Accepted status

accepted

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Chordata

Class

Teleostei

Order

Gadiformes

Family

Merlucciidae

Genus

Merluccius

Extinction status

Not supplied by this source

Source habitat flags: Marine: yes · Freshwater: no · Terrestrial: no. These do not form a complete habitat description.

Classification family tree

Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.

1. domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
2. kingdomAnimalia
3. phylumChordata
4. subphylumVertebrata
5. infraphylumGnathostomata
6. parvphylumOsteichthyes
7. gigaclassActinopterygii
8. superclassActinopteri
9. classTeleostei
10. orderGadiformes
11. familyMerlucciidae Rafinesque, 1815
12. subfamilyMerlucciinae Rafinesque, 1815
13. genusMerluccius Rafinesque, 1810
14. speciesMerluccius paradoxus Franca, 1960

Close classified relatives

These entries share the source’s genus, Merluccius. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.

Browse 22 records assigned to Merlucciidae.

Names & synonyms

Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.

Source literature & publication evidence

References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.

1. Franca, & da, P. (1960). Nova contribuição para o conhecimento do género Merluccius no Atlântico oriental ao sul do Equador. Memórias Da Junta de Investigações Científicas Do Ultramar, 2a. sér. Lisboa No. 18: 57–101. Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references

Origins, evidence & remaining research

Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.

Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.

Dataset citation & attribution

This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11

Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.

Stable key: col:3ZV79. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.