Merlangius merlangus, Whiting : fisheries, gamefish, aquarium

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Merlangius merlangus (Linnaeus, 1758)

Whiting
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Merlangius merlangus   AquaMaps   Data sources: GBIF OBIS
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Image of Merlangius merlangus (Whiting)
Merlangius merlangus
Picture by Morris, P.

Common names from other countries

Merlan, Plegonero, Мерланг, ... more

Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Teleostei (teleosts) > Gadiformes (Cods) > Gadidae (Cods and haddocks)
Etymology: Merlangius: French, merlan = a fish (Ref. 45335).
More on author: Linnaeus.

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Marine; brackish; benthopelagic; oceanodromous (Ref. 51243); depth range 10 - 200 m (Ref. 1371), usually 30 - 100 m (Ref. 1371). Temperate; 72°N - 35°N, 27°W - 42°E

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Point map | Introductions | Faunafri

Northeast Atlantic: southeastern Barents Sea and Iceland to Portugal, also in the Black Sea, Aegean Sea, Adriatic Sea and adjacent areas. Rare in the northwestern Mediterranean.

Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm 28.2, range 28 - 30 cm
Max length : 91.5 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 106276); common length : 23.5 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 1371); max. published weight: 3.1 kg (Ref. 40637); max. reported age: 20 years (Ref. 35388)

Short description Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 0; Dorsal soft rays (total): 30 - 40; Anal soft rays: 30 - 35. Body elongate; head small. Chin barbel small or absent. Lateral-line canals on head with pores. Color is variable; yellowish-brown, dark blue or green, sides yellowish grey, white and silvery on belly; often with a small dark blotch at the upper base of the pectoral fin.
Body shape (shape guide): fusiform / normal; Cross section: circular.

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

More commonly found from 30 to 100 m, mainly on mud and gravel bottoms, but also on sand and rock. Feed on shrimps, crabs, mollusks, small fish, polychaetes and cephalopods. Migrate to the open sea only after the first year of life. Eggs are pelagic. Larvae and juveniles are associated with jellyfish. Upon maturity, small chin barbel characteristic of juveniles disappear (Ref. 53061). Spawn in batches (Ref. 51846). Utilized fresh, dried or salted, smoked and frozen; eaten steamed, broiled and baked (Ref. 9988).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae

Oviparous, sexes are separate (Ref. 205).

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator | Collaborators

Cohen, D.M., T. Inada, T. Iwamoto and N. Scialabba, 1990. FAO species catalogue. Vol. 10. Gadiform fishes of the world (Order Gadiformes). An annotated and illustrated catalogue of cods, hakes, grenadiers and other gadiform fishes known to date. FAO Fish. Synop. 125(10). Rome: FAO. 442 p. (Ref. 1371)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435: Version 2025-1)

  Least Concern (LC) ; Date assessed: 18 October 2013

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Harmless





Human uses

Fisheries: highly commercial; gamefish: yes; aquarium: public aquariums
FAO - Fisheries: landings, species profile; Publication: search | FIRMS - Stock assessments | FishSource | Sea Around Us

More information

Trophic ecology
Food items (preys)
Diet composition
Food consumption
Food rations
Predators
Ecology
Ecology
Home ranges
Population dynamics
Growth parameters
Max. ages / sizes
Length-weight rel.
Length-length rel.
Length-frequencies
Mass conversion
Recruitment
Abundance
Life cycle
Reproduction
Maturity
Maturity/Gills rel.
Fecundity
Spawning
Spawning aggregations
Eggs
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Larvae
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Distribution
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BRUVS - Videos
Anatomy
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Otolith
Physiology
Body composition
Nutrients
Oxygen consumption
Swimming type
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Visual pigments
Fish sound
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Toxicity (LC50s)
Genetics
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Genetics
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References

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Special reports

Check for Aquarium maintenance | Check for Species Fact Sheets | Check for Aquaculture Fact Sheets

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Summary page | Point data | Common names | Photos

Internet sources

AFORO (otoliths) | Aquatic Commons | BHL | Cloffa | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes: genus, species | DiscoverLife | ECOTOX | FAO - Fisheries: landings, species profile; Publication: search | Faunafri | Fishipedia | Fishtrace | GloBI | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | National databases | OneZoom | Open Tree of Life | Otolith Atlas of Taiwan Fishes | Public aquariums | PubMed | Reef Life Survey | Socotra Atlas | TreeBase | Tree of Life | Wikipedia: Go, Search | World Records Freshwater Fishing | Zoological Record

Estimates based on models

Preferred temperature (Ref. 123201): 7 - 11.9, mean 9.2 °C (based on 409 cells).
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804):  PD50 = 1.0000   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00617 (0.00547 - 0.00695), b=3.06 (3.02 - 3.10), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this species (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level (Ref. 69278):  4.4   ±0.2 se; based on diet studies.
Generation time: 5.3 (4.4 - 6.8) years. Estimated as median ln(3)/K based on 23 growth studies.
Resilience (Ref. 120179):  Medium, minimum population doubling time 1.4 - 4.4 years (rm=1.1-1.6(?); K=0.07-0.74; tm=1-4; tmax=20; Fec>100,000).
Prior r = 0.49, 95% CL = 0.33 - 0.74, Based on 20 full stock assessments.
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  High to very high vulnerability (67 of 100). 🛈
Climate Vulnerability (Ref. 125649):  Moderate to high vulnerability (47 of 100). 🛈
Price category (Ref. 80766):   Medium.
Nutrients (Ref. 124155):  Calcium = 18 [9, 36] mg/100g; Iron = 0.2 [0.1, 0.6] mg/100g; Protein = 18 [16, 20] %; Omega3 = 1 [0, 2] g/100g; Selenium = 17.8 [8.2, 36.9] μg/100g; VitaminA = 11.9 [3.0, 48.0] μg/100g; Zinc = 0.242 [0.129, 0.709] mg/100g (wet weight); based on nutrient studies.