''Merluccius hernandezi'', the Cortez hake, is a species of fish from the

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

Merlucciidae The merlucciidae, commonly called merluccid hakes , are a family of cod-like fish, including most hakes. They are native to cold water in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, and typically are found at depths greater than in subtropical, temperate, ...

, the true hakes. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

to the

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

where it can be found in the epipelagic and mesopelagic zones over the

continental shelf A continental shelf is a portion of a continent that is submerged under an area of relatively shallow water, known as a shelf sea. Much of these shelves were exposed by drops in sea level during glacial periods. The shelf surrounding an islan ...

, open sea, and sea mounts, to a depth of around 300m. It is a small species which has been referred to as a "dwarf hake" and is of little interest to fisheries, other than small scale local fisheries. It was described in 1985 and small hake in the Gulf of California were previously considered to be Panama hakes (''Merluccius angustimanus''). This species differs from the Panama hake in that in juveniles the caudal fin has a central lobe and is truncate in adults, whereas the caudal fin is emarginate in the Panama hake, its

pectoral fin Fins are moving appendages protruding from the body of fish that interact with water to generate thrust and help the fish aquatic locomotion, swim. Apart from the tail or caudal fin, fish fins have no direct connection with the vertebral column ...

projects well beyond the anus in but does not do so in the Panama hake.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1961145 Merluccius Fish described in 1985