Chilean whiting
Merluccius gayi
- Usual depth395–590 m
- Water temperature8–28 °C
- Best monthsFebruary, March, and September
- How commonCommon
Photo credit: (c) Nelson Balcar, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
About this species
Merluccius gayi is a merluccid hake of the genus Merluccius, with two subspecies, the South Pacific hake or Chilean common hake and the Peruvian hake, found in the south-western Pacific Ocean, along the coast of South America, from Peru to the Chilean coasts north to the Chiloé Archipelago. During the Southern Hemisphere summer, it migrates southwards in shallow waters, while in the winter, it lives more to the north, in far deeper waters.
Text from the Wikipedia article “Merluccius gayi”, 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: 2 records
- February: 11 records
- March: 9 records
- April: 3 records
- May: 5 records
- June: 5 records
- July: 2 records
- August: 2 records
- September: 7 records
- October: 4 records
- November: 5 records
- December: 6 records
Depth and water temperature
Depth
Mostly recorded at 395–590 m · Deepest record: 1,150 m
Water temperature
Recorded in surface water of 8–28 °C
Names and classification
- English
- Chilean whiting, English hake, Hake, Pacific hake, Peruvian hake, Peruvian whiting, Chilean hake, chilean whiting, hake, silver hake, South Pacific hake, whiting
Names in 4 more languages
- German
- Chilenischer Seehecht, Seehecht
- Spanish
- maltona, merlango, merluza, merluza chilen, merluza común, merluza común chilena, merluza del Pacifico sur, peje palo, pescada, pescadilla
- French
- merlu du chili, merlu du Pacifique sud
- Japanese
- chiri-heiku, チリヘイク
Other scientific names: Epicopus gayi, Merlus gayi
Similar species
Chilean hakeMerluccius australis
European hakeMerluccius merluccius
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).
- 5,619 open-data records from 1888 to 1998.
- Species data updated November 4, 2026.
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