Silver Hake

Family Gadidae

REMARKS Maximum length about 75 cm, usual length from 35 to 65 cm. Fresh from the water, this fish has the silvery iridescent sheen to which it owes its common name. In death the back turns brownish or grey, but the lower sides and belly remain silvery. The inside of the mouth is dusky blue.

This species ranges from the Gulf of St Lawrence and the southern shores of Newfoundland to North Carolina; it is common from Nova Scotia to Virginia. A common market name for it is whiting. The French Canadian name for it is merlan argenté. In New England it may be called frostfish, because it abounds round piers and beaches during the late autumn. In fact, however, it shuns frosty temperatures and moves from inshore to deeper waters at the onset of winter, returning again in the spring.