The Panama hake (''Merluccius angustimanus''), also known as the dwarf hake, is a

merluccid hake The Merlucciidae, commonly called merluccid hakes , are a family of cod-like fish, including most hakes. available for download at http://www.fao.org They are native to cold water in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, and typically are found at de ...

found off the west coast of the Americas from

Del Mar, California Del Mar (; Spanish for "Of the Sea") is a beach town in San Diego County, California, located on the coast of the Pacific Ocean. Established in 1885 as a seaside resort, the city incorporated in 1959. The Del Mar Horse Races are hosted on the ...

, to Ensenada de Tumaco, Colombia.

Description

The Panama hake is a relatively small species which does not normally grow to a greater length than 30 cm, although specimens have been described up to 40 cm. It has a relatively long head and long

pectoral fin Fins are distinctive anatomical features composed of bony spines or rays protruding from the body of a fish. They are covered with skin and joined together either in a webbed fashion, as seen in most bony fish, or similar to a flipper, as ...

s which reach at least to the origin of the

anal fin Fins are distinctive anatomical features composed of bony spines or rays protruding from the body of a fish. They are covered with skin and joined together either in a webbed fashion, as seen in most bony fish, or similar to a flipper, as s ...

. The anterior

dorsal fin A dorsal fin is a fin located on the back of most marine and freshwater vertebrates within various taxa of the animal kingdom. Many species of animals possessing dorsal fins are not particularly closely related to each other, though through c ...

has a single spine and 9–12 fin rays, while the posterior dorsal fin has 36–40 rays. The

caudal fin Fins are distinctive anatomical features composed of bony spines or rays protruding from the body of a fish. They are covered with skin and joined together either in a webbed fashion, as seen in most bony fish, or similar to a flipper, as s ...

can be truncate or emarginated and it has 121–134 scales along the lateral line. It is a silvery colour above and whitish below.

Distribution

The Panama hake is an eastern Pacific species which is found from southern

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the ...

and the

Gulf of California The Gulf of California ( es, Golfo de California), also known as the Sea of Cortés (''Mar de Cortés'') or Sea of Cortez, or less commonly as the Vermilion Sea (''Mar Bermejo''), is a marginal sea of the Pacific Ocean that separates the Baja C ...

south to Colombia, although its reported presence in many areas within this range needs verification.

Habitat and biology

The Panama Hake is a

demersal The demersal zone is the part of the sea or ocean (or deep lake) consisting of the part of the water column near to (and significantly affected by) the seabed and the benthos. The demersal zone is just above the benthic zone and forms a laye ...

bathypelagic The bathypelagic zone or bathyal zone (from Greek βαθύς (bathýs), deep) is the part of the open ocean that extends from a depth of below the ocean surface. It lies between the mesopelagic above, and the abyssopelagic below. The bathypelag ...

species which occurs from the shallow continental shelf at 80m to the upper

continental slope A continental margin is the outer edge of continental crust abutting oceanic crust under coastal waters. It is one of the three major zones of the ocean floor, the other two being deep-ocean basins and mid-ocean ridges. The continental marg ...

as deep as 500m, as well as in the ocean's midwaters and over

sea mount A seamount is a large geologic landform that rises from the ocean floor that does not reach to the water's surface (sea level), and thus is not an island, islet or cliff-rock. Seamounts are typically formed from extinct volcanoes that rise abru ...

s such as Uncle Sam Bank. It has pelagic eggs and larvae and feeds on fish and invertebrates. It spawns from April to June or even later. they reach sexual maturity when they attain a length of 18 to 19 cm. They may live for up to seven year.

Fishing

''M. angustimanus'' has little importance commercially because of its small size and low abundance, although it fetches high prices when it occasionally shows up on the market, as it is sometimes exported on a local level.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2499170 Merluccius Fish of the Pacific Ocean Fish described in 1899 Taxa named by Samuel Garman