Fish of the Micromesistius genus of the Gadidae (сods, or true cods) family of the Gadiformes order of the Paracanthopterygii superorder.
(Blue whiting. Photo © Havforskningsinstituttet, imr.no)
Blue whiting (Micromesistius poutassou) was first described in 1827 by the French naturalist Antoine Risso (1777-1845).
It inhabits the depths of 150-3,000 meters, usually 300-400 meters. It is a bathypelagic species. The maximum recorded length is 50 cm; specimens up to 22 cm long are more common. The maximum weight is 830 grams. In the daytime, it swims in deep areas, and migrates to the surface at night. It feeds on crustaceans, small-sized fish and cephalopods.
(Blue whiting. Photo by © Kåre Telnes. seawater.no)
It is the inhabitant of the southern and central part of the Adriatic Sea.
Names of blue whiting (Micromesistius poutassou) in other languages are as follows:
Merluci blu (Albanian), Kék puha tőkehal (Hungarian), Blauwe wijting (Dutch), Προσφυγάκι (Prosfygaki) (Greek), Bacaladilla (Spanish), Melù (Italian), Blauer Wittling (German), Błękitek (Polish), Verdinho (Portuguese), Pichelim (Romanian), Северная путассу (Severnaya putassu) (Russian), Ugotica pečinka, Ugotica pučinska (Serbian, Croatian), Sinji mol (Slovenian), Mavimezgit balığı (Turkish), Merlan bleu (French).