Spotted Hake, Urophycis regia

Spotted Hake, Urophycis regia. Fish caught from the Hudson Canyon off New York City, New York, August 2018. Length: 30 cm (12 inches). Catch, photograph, and identification courtesy of Kenneth Tse, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

The Spotted Hake, Urophycis regia, is a member of the Phycidae Family of Phycid Hakes, that is also known as the Spotted Codling and in Mexico as merluza barbonas. Globally, there are twenty-seven species that have been placed in five genera in the Gadidae Family of which seven species are in the genus Urophycis, of which three are found in Mexican waters of the Atlantic Ocean.

The Spotted Hake has a soft elongated body that tapers into the tail. Their head has small eyes, a large mouth that extends to the center of the eyes, with an underslung jaw, a short barbel on the chin, and well-developed teeth on the roof of the mouth and wide gill openings. They are a dark brown overall that are white ventrally that have a dark blotch on the gill cover, and a series of dark spots on the cheeks and the lateral line is dark with a series of white spots. The first half of the dorsal fin is black with a white margin and the second dorsal fin has irregular dark spots. Their anal fin has a long base with 1 spine and 43 to 49 rays; their caudal fin is short and rounded and not continuous with the anal or dorsal fin; their first dorsal fin is triangular in shape with a short base and 8 or 9 rays; their second dorsal fin has a long base with a straight margin and 46 to 51 rays; their pectoral fins do not reach beyond the anal fin origin; and, their pelvic fins are under the rear of the gill cover with 2 long stand alone rays that can reach the beyond the anal fin origin. They have 2 or 3 gill rakers on the upper limb of the first arch. They are covered with round overlapping scales. Their lateral line is complete.

The Spotted Hake is a non-migratory demersal species that is found over sand substrate with their juveniles being found in shallow water environments in estuaries and the adults in the open ocean at depths up to 457 m (1,500 feet). They reach a maximum of 41 cm (16 inches) in length. They consume crustaceans, fish and squid. The Spotted Hake is poorly studied with very limited information available about their lifestyle and behavioral patterns including specific details on age, growth, longevity, movement patterns, diet, habitat use, and reproduction.

The Spotted Hake is a resident of Mexican waters of the Atlantic and found throughout the Gulf of Mexico; they are absent from north and east of the Yucatán Peninsula.

The Spotted Hake is one of three Hakes found in Mexican waters of the Atlantic but it is the only one that has the row of white spots along the lateral line and spotted dorsal fins.

From a conservation perspective the Spotted Hake is considered to be of Least Concern with stable, widely distributed populations. They are a deep water rather inaccessible species. They are caught as a by-catch of bottom trawls (with those fish used in fish meal) and via hook and line. They are sold commercially as a food for human consumption on a very limited basis.