Found on soft, muddy bottoms of the continental shelf and upper slope. It is mostly found at 180 m. Mature fish migrate inshore in the northern Gulf of Maine in summer, disperse in autumn, and move into deepest areas in winter. Feed on small crustaceans, squids and small fish. Utilized fresh, smoked or frozen; eaten steamed, microwaved and baked (Ref. 9988). Exported to Europe (Ref. 9988).

Atlantic.

European waters (ERMS scope), Gulf of Maine, Gulf of St. Lawrence, North West Atlantic

Western Atlantic: Labrador and the Grand Banks of Newfoundland to the coast of North Carolina. Straying to Iceland in the east and Florida in the south.

Labrador to North Carolina

Canada

Origin: Native

Regularity: Regularly occurring

Currently: Present

Confidence: Confident

Type of Residency: Year-round

United States

Origin: Native

Regularity: Regularly occurring

Currently: Present

Confidence: Confident

Type of Residency: Year-round

Labrador and the Grand Banks to the coast of North Carolina. Straying to Iceland in the east and Florida in the south.

Dorsal spines (total): 0; Analspines: 0

Maximum size: 1200 mm TL

133 cm TL (male/unsexed; (Ref. 40637)); 135 cm TL (female); max. published weight: 21.0 kg (Ref. 4699); max. reported age: 23 years (Ref. 796)

to 120 cm TL (male/unsexed); max. weight: 21 kg .

Upper limb or first gill arch with 2 (rarely 3) rakers. First dorsal in with an elongated ray. Body color variable, dorsally various dark shades, paler laterally, sometimes bronze, belly pale dirty to yellow white; pelvic fin pale. A dusky blotch present on the opercle.

Depth: 0 - 980m.
Recorded at 980 meters.

Habitat: demersal.

demersal; oceanodromous (Ref. 51243); marine; depth range 180 - 1000 m (Ref. 5951), usually 180 - ? m

benthic

Found at soft muddy bottoms, mainly at depths of 180 m.

Depth range based on 23385 specimens in 1 taxon.
Water temperature and chemistry ranges based on 14864 samples.

Environmental ranges
  Depth range (m): 0 - 1170
  Temperature range (°C): -0.752 - 17.262
  Nitrate (umol/L): 1.186 - 26.300
  Salinity (PPS): 30.218 - 36.240
  Oxygen (ml/l): 3.207 - 7.862
  Phosphate (umol/l): 0.388 - 1.829
  Silicate (umol/l): 1.599 - 19.024

Graphical representation

Depth range (m): 0 - 1170

Temperature range (°C): -0.752 - 17.262

Nitrate (umol/L): 1.186 - 26.300

Salinity (PPS): 30.218 - 36.240

Oxygen (ml/l): 3.207 - 7.862

Phosphate (umol/l): 0.388 - 1.829

Silicate (umol/l): 1.599 - 19.024
 
Note: this information has not been validated. Check this *note*. Your feedback is most welcome.

Habitat Type: Marine

Demersal; marine; depth to 980 m. Soft mud bottoms of the continental shelf and upper slope. Most commonly at 180 m depth. In the northern Gulf of Maine, mature individuals migrate inshore in summer, disperse in autumn, and move into deeper areas in winter.

 

The species associated with this page are major players in the pelagic ecosystem of the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary. Stellwagen Bank is an undersea gravel and sand deposit stretching between Cape Cod and Cape Ann off the coast of Massachussets. Protected since 1993 as the region’s first National Marine Sanctuary, the bank is known primarily for whale-watching and commercial fishing of cod, lobster, hake, and other species (Eldredge 1993). 

Massachusetts Bay, and Stellwagen Bank in particular, show a marked concentration of biodiversity in comparison to the broader coastal North Atlantic. This diversity is supported from the bottom of the food chain. The pattern of currents and bathymetry in the area support high levels of phytoplankton productivity, which in turn support dense populations of schooling fish such as sand lance, herring, and mackerel, all important prey for larger fish, mammals, and seabirds (NOAA 2010). Sightings of many species of whales and seabirds are best predicted by spatial and temporal distribution of prey species (Jiang et al 2007; NOAA 2010), providing support for the theory that the region’s diversity is productivity-driven.

Stellwagen Bank is utilized as a significant migration stopover point for many species of shorebird. Summer visitors include Wilson’s storm-petrel, shearwaters, Arctic terns, and red phalaropes, while winter visitors include black-legged kittiwakes, great cormorants, Atlantic puffins, and razorbills. Various cormorants and gulls, the common murre, and the common eider all form significant breeding colonies in the sanctuary as well (NOAA 2010). The community of locally-breeding birds in particular is adversely affected by human activity. As land use along the shore changes and fishing activity increases, the prevalence of garbage and detritus favors gulls, especially herring and black-backed gulls. As gull survivorship increases, gulls begin to dominate competition for nesting sites, to the detriment of other species (NOAA 2010). 

In addition to various other cetaceans and pinnipeds, the world’s only remaining population of North Atlantic right whales summers in the Stellwagen Bank sanctuary. Right whales and other baleen whales feed on the abundant copepods and phytoplankton of the region, while toothed whales, pinnipeds, and belugas feed on fish and cephalopods (NOAA 2010). The greatest direct threats to cetaceans in the sanctuary are entanglement with fishing gear and death by vessel strikes (NOAA 2010), but a growing body of evidence suggests that noise pollution harms marine mammals by masking their acoustic communication and damaging their hearing (Clark et al 2009).

General threats to the ecosystem as a whole include overfishing and environmental contaminants. Fishing pressure in the Gulf of Maine area has three negative effects. First and most obviously, it reduces the abundance of fish species, harming both the fish and all organisms dependent on the fish as food sources. Secondly, human preference for large fish disproportionately damages the resilience of fish populations, as large females produce more abundant, higher quality eggs than small females. Third, by preferentially catching large fish, humans have exerted an intense selective pressure on food fish species for smaller body size. This extreme selective pressure has caused a selective sweep, diminishing the variation in gene pools of many commercial fisheries (NOAA 2010). While the waters of the SBNMS are significantly cleaner than Massachusetts Bay as a whole, elevated levels of PCBs have been measured in cetaceans and seabird eggs (NOAA 2010). Additionally, iron and copper leaching from the contaminated sediments of Boston Harbor occasionally reach the preserve (Li et al 2010). 

Oceanodromous. Migrating within oceans typically between spawning and different feeding areas, as tunas do. Migrations should be cyclical and predictable and cover more than 100 km.

Non-Migrant: No. All populations of this species make significant seasonal migrations.

Locally Migrant: No. No populations of this species make local extended movements (generally less than 200 km) at particular times of the year (e.g., to breeding or wintering grounds, to hibernation sites).

Locally Migrant: No. No populations of this species make annual migrations of over 200 km.

Found on soft, muddy bottoms of the continental shelf and upper slope. It is mostly found at 180 m (Ref. 4587); prefers 5-11°C (Ref. 5951). Mature fish migrate inshore in the northern Gulf of Maine in summer, disperse in autumn, and move into deepest areas in winter (Ref. 4587). Feeds on fishes like clupeids (especially Atlantic herring) and gadids (mainly silver hake, red hake and longfin hake; Atlantic mackerel, argentines and wrymouth); crustaceans (particularly pandalid shrimps). Parasites of the species include 2 protozoans, 3 myxosporidians, 1 trematode, 1 nematode (sealworm, Phocanema decipiens) and 1 copepod (Ref. 5951). See also Ref. 8999.

Small crustaceans, squids and small fish.

Urophycis tenuis (White Hake) is prey of:
Pollachius pollachius
Urophycis tenuis
Urophycis chuss
Gadidae
Melanogrammus aeglefinus
Hemitripterus americanus
Leucoraja erinacea
Leucoraja ocellata
Amblyraja radiata
Macrozoarces americanus
Brosme brosme
Sebastes marinus
Scophthalmus aquosus
Paralichthys dentatus
Hippoglossoides platessoides
Hippoglossus hippoglossus
Mustelus canis
Squalus acanthias
Lophius americanus
Cynoscion
Pomatomus saltatrix

Phocidae
Scombridae
Chondrichthyes
Istiophoridae
Aves

Based on studies in:
USA, Northeastern US contintental shelf (Coastal)

This list may not be complete but is based on published studies.

Urophycis tenuis (White Hake) preys on:
Ctenophora
other worms
Chaetognatha
Anthozoa
Cnidaria
Crangon
Mysidae
Pandalidae
Decapoda
Gammaridae
Hyperiidae
Caprellidae
Isopoda
Cumacea
Stomatopoda
Cancer
Brachyura
Hydrozoa
Polychaeta
Echinodermata
Ophiuroidea
Bivalvia
Ammodytes marinus
Clupea harengus
Alosa pseudoharengus
Scomber
Peprilus triacanthus
Actinonaias ellipsiformis
Tridonta arctica
Merluccius bilinearis
Urophycis regia
Urophycis tenuis
Myoxocephalus octodecemspinosus
Tautogolabrus adspersus
Triglidae

Based on studies in:
USA, Northeastern US contintental shelf (Coastal)

This list may not be complete but is based on published studies.

Oviparous. Spawn from summer to autumn, commonly in July, August, September.

Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLDS) Stats
Public Records: 5
Specimens with Barcodes: 15
Species With Barcodes: 1

Canada

Rounded National Status Rank: NNR - Unranked

United States

Rounded National Status Rank: NNR - Unranked

Rounded Global Status Rank: GNR - Not Yet Ranked

Not Evaluated

fisheries: highly commercial; gamefish: yes; price category: low; price reliability: reliable: based on ex-vessel price for this species