Silver Hake

The silver hake (Merluccius bilinearis) is a slender, fast-swimming member of the hake family (Merlucciidae) native to the northwestern Atlantic, ranging from the Grand Banks of Newfoundland south to South Carolina. Closely related to the European and Pacific hakes, it shares the family's elongated body and two-dorsal-fin arrangement but is generally smaller and more silvery in coloration. Silver hake occupy continental shelf and slope waters and are known for pronounced seasonal inshore-offshore migrations tied to water temperature. As an abundant mid-trophic predator, silver hake link plankton and small forage fish to larger predators throughout the western North Atlantic, forming an ecologically important component of shelf-water food webs from Canada to the southeastern United States.

Silver hake show the characteristic slender hake profile combined with a distinctly bright, silvery sheen.

• Body: long, slim, laterally compressed
• Color: bright silvery sides, darker olive-grey to purplish-brown back
• Fins: two dorsal fins (short first, long notched second), single long anal fin, forked tail
• Mouth: large, with sharp teeth and a projecting lower jaw, no chin barbel
• Size: typically 30-60 cm

Silver hake differ from European hake mainly by geographic range and a somewhat brighter silvery coloration, and from true cod by lacking a chin barbel and having only two dorsal fins.

Silver hake range across the northwestern Atlantic continental shelf from the Grand Banks and Gulf of St. Lawrence south to the Carolinas, with the greatest abundance from the Gulf of Maine to the Mid-Atlantic Bight. They typically inhabit depths of 50-300 m, favoring sandy or muddy bottoms near the shelf edge. Silver hake undertake marked seasonal migrations, moving into shallower, warmer inshore and shelf waters in spring and summer to feed and spawn, then retreating to deeper, warmer offshore waters along the shelf edge during colder winter months. This inshore-offshore seasonal pattern is closely tied to bottom water temperature across their range.

Silver hake are active, schooling predators that rest near the bottom during the day and move into midwater at night to feed on small fish such as herring and sand lance, along with squid and crustaceans. Like other hakes, they show cannibalistic tendencies, with larger individuals regularly consuming smaller silver hake. Spawning occurs primarily in summer, from June to September, in shelf waters, with pelagic eggs and larvae drifting with currents until juveniles settle onto the seabed. Growth is relatively rapid for a Gadiform, and silver hake mature within a few years. As an abundant midwater predator, silver hake serve as an important prey species for larger fish, marine mammals, and seabirds across the northwest Atlantic shelf.