Fish of the Merlucciidae genus of the Gadidae (сods, or true cods) family of the Gadiformes order of the Paracanthopterygii superorder.
(European hake. Photo © Ichthyology Database of the Swedish Museum of Natural History. artedi.nrm.se)
European hake (Merluccius merluccius) was first described in 1758 by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus (1707-1778).
It inhabits the depths of 30-1,075 meters, usually 70-400 meters. During the day, it swims near the bottom, and can swim closer to the surface at night. The maximum recorded length is 140 cm; specimens up to 45 cm long are more common. The maximum weight is 15 kilograms. It feeds on fish, squids and crustaceans.
(European hake. Photo by © Rudolf Svensen. fishbase.org)
It is a permanent inhabitant of the Adriatic Sea.
Names of European hake (Merluccius merluccius) in other languages are as follows:
Merluci (Albanian), Мерлуза (Merluza) (Bulgarian), Hekk (Hungarian), Heek (Dutch), Μπακαλιάρος (Bakaliaros) (Greek), Shibbut albin (Hebrew), Merluza europea (Spanish), Nasello (Italian), Hechtdorsch (German), Morszczuk zwyczajny (Polish), Pescada-do-atlântico (Portuguese), Merluciu (Romanian), Обыкновенный хек (Obykovenniy hek) (Russian), Oslić (Croatian, Serbian, Slovenian), Berlam balığı (Turkish), Merlu européen (French), Štikozubec obecný (Czech).