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Micromesistius poutassou (Risso, 1827)

Blue whiting
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Micromesistius poutassou   AquaMaps   Data sources: GBIF OBIS
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Image of Micromesistius poutassou (Blue whiting)
Micromesistius poutassou
Picture by Svensen, R.

Spain country information

Common names: Bacalá, Bacaladilla, Bacaladilla
Occurrence: native
Salinity: marine
Abundance: | Ref:
Importance: commercial | Ref: FAO, 1994
Aquaculture: | Ref:
Regulations: | Ref:
Uses: no uses
Comments: Found in Galicia (Ref. 86578). Recorded from the Balearic Sea (Ref. 95775).
National Checklist:
Country Information: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/resources/the-world-factbook/geos/sp.html
National Fisheries Authority:
Occurrences: Occurrences Point map
Main Ref: Ehrenbaum, E., 1936
National Database: ICTIMED

Common names from other countries

Merlan bleu, Bacaladilla, غُبَر أزرق, ... more

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

Teleostei (teleosts) > Gadiformes (Cods) > Gadidae (Cods and haddocks)
Etymology: Micromesistius: Greek, mikros = small + greek, mesos = middle + Greek, istion = sail (Ref. 45335).
  More on author: Risso.

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

Marine; bathypelagic; oceanodromous (Ref. 51243); depth range 150 - 3000 m (Ref. 3663), usually 300 - 400 m.   Temperate; 79°N - 26°N, 82°W - 51°E (Ref. 1371)

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

Northeast Atlantic: Barents Sea south through the eastern Norwegian Sea, around Iceland, then in the western Mediterranean, and south along the African coast to Cape Bojador. Northwest Atlantic: southern Greenland and off southeast Canada and the northeastern coast of the USA.

Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm 15.0  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 55.5 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 106276); common length : 22.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 1371); max. published weight: 830.00 g (Ref. 40637); max. reported age: 20 years (Ref. 1371)

Short description Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 0; Dorsal soft rays (total): 24-28; Anal soft rays: 33 - 39. Dorsal fins widely spaced, interspace between second and third fins longer than base length of first dorsal fin. Lateral line continuous over whole body. Color is blue-gray dorsally, grading to white ventrally. Sometimes with a small black blotch at the base of the pectoral fin.

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Found over the continental slope and shelf to more than 1000 m, but more common at 300-400 m. Feeds mostly on small crustaceans but large individuals also prey on small fish and cephalopods. Makes daily vertical migrations: surface waters at night and near the bottom during the day. Sold fresh and frozen, and also processed as oil and fishmeal (Ref. 1371).

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

Oviparous and gonochorous (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)

  Not Evaluated 

CITES (Ref. 128078)

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Harmless




Human uses

Fisheries: highly commercial
FAO(Fisheries: production, species profile; publication : search) | FIRMS (Stock assessments) | FishSource | Sea Around Us

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Summary page | Point data | Common names | Photos

Internet sources

Aquatic Commons | BHL | Cloffa | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | DiscoverLife | ECOTOX | Faunafri | Fishtrace | GenBank(genome, nucleotide) | GloBI | GOBASE | | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | MitoFish | National databases | Otolith Atlas of Taiwan Fishes | PubMed | Reef Life Survey | Scirus | SeaLifeBase | Tree of Life | Wikipedia(Go, Search) | World Records Freshwater Fishing | Zoological Record

Estimates based on models

Preferred temperature (Ref. 115969): 3.1 - 13.9, mean 7 (based on 157 cells).
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804):  PD50 = 0.7500   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00417 (0.00343 - 0.00507), b=3.12 (3.06 - 3.18), in cm Total Length, based on LWR estimates for this species (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level (Ref. 69278):  4.1   ±0.3 se; based on diet studies.
Resilience (Ref. 120179):  Medium, minimum population doubling time 1.4 - 4.4 years (K=0.18-0.22; tm=1-5; tmax=20; Fec=6000).
Prior r = 0.47, 95% CL = 0.31 - 0.71, Based on 11 stock assessments.
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  Low to moderate vulnerability (32 of 100).
Climate Vulnerability (Ref. 125649):  Low vulnerability (18 of 100).
Price category (Ref. 80766):   Low.