Blue grenadier

Macruronus novaezelandiae

Fish
IUCN: Not evaluated

Usual depth283–927 m
Water temperature8–21 °C
Best monthsJuly, August, and October
How commonCommon

Photo credit: (c) Kyle Van Houtan, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

About this species

The blue grenadier is a gadiform fish of the family Macruronidae found around southern Australia and New Zealand, as well as off both the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of South America from Peru to Brazil at depths of between 10 and 1,000 m. It feeds in midwater on small squids, crustaceans, and fish. Its length is between 60 and 120 cm. It is a slender, silvery fish similar in appearance to the gemfish. The meat of the fish is white and almost always sold in fillets; culinarily it is considered a whitefish.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Blue grenadier”, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the article

Where and when

Where it has been recorded

Worldwide

Loading the map

Best months

Worldwide (open data)

January: 6 records
February: 18 records
March: 17 records
April: 25 records
May: 18 records
June: 48 records
July: 130 records
August: 107 records
September: 59 records
October: 93 records
November: 32 records
December: 30 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 283–927 m · Deepest record: 3,821.5 m

0–10 m: 13 records
10–20 m: 30 records
20–30 m: 28 records
30–40 m: 31 records
40–50 m: 76 records
50–60 m: 52 records
60–70 m: 69 records
70–80 m: 38 records
80–90 m: 47 records
90–100 m: 89 records
100–110 m: 73 records
110+ m: 20,865 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 8–21 °C

6–8 °C: 69 records
8–10 °C: 128 records
10–12 °C: 129 records
12–14 °C: 279 records
14–16 °C: 230 records
16–18 °C: 103 records
18–20 °C: 16 records
20–22 °C: 3 records

Names and classification

English: Blue grenadier, Blue hake, New Zealand whiptail, Patagonian whiphake, Tailed hake, Whiptail, blue grenadier, Blue Grenidier, blue hake, Grenadier, New Zealand Whip-tail, tailed hake, whiptail

Names in 4 more languages

German: Langschwanzseehecht, Langschwanz-Seehecht
Spanish: argentino, huaica, huelca, huilca, merluza azul, merluza de cola, merluza de cola de rata, merluza hoki
French: grenadier bleu, grenadier patagonienne, merluche patagonienne
Japanese: dekora, hoki, デコラ, ホキ

Other scientific names: Coryphaenoides novaezelandiae, Coryphaenoides tasmaniae, Macruronus novaezealandiae

Sources and credits

Names and taxonomy: WoRMS (CC BY 4.0) and the GBIF Backbone (CC BY 4.0). Photos: iNaturalist observers, each under the licence shown (CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA).

Depth, temperature, months and maps: records from OBIS and GBIF under CC0 or CC BY.
Descriptions: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA, each linked to its article.
Conservation status as published by GBIF (IUCN Red List).
22,787 open-data records from 1882 to 2018.
Species data updated November 4, 2026.

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