January Fish of the Month: Southern Hake Urophycis floridana

Dr. Geoffrey Smith
NWFSC Biology Instructor

During the winter and early spring months along the gulf coast, anglers sporadically encounter a fish they’ve never heard or seen of before, the Southern Hake.

The genus name Urophcis is derived from the Greek oura meaning tail and the Greek phykis meaning fish living among algae/seagrass often referring to hakes and cods. Put together, this roughly translates to “tailed fish living in algae” or “tailed hake” referring to the fact this genus of hakes have a distinct tail (caudal) fin as opposed to many other groups of hakes that do not have such a distinct caudal fin. The species name floridana is in reference to its primary range being located around Florida. The Southern Hake is found in waters from North Carolina south along the Atlantic coast and into the Gulf to approximately the Yucatan Peninsula (Figure 1).

The Southern Hake is generally grayish to brown in coloration, with a white belly. The operculum or gill cover/flap has one distinct dark line and several rows of darks spots. The lateral line, which is a series of scales with holes in them to detect water movement and vibrations, contains a series of alternating white and dark brown to black dashes (Figure 2).

As adults, Southern Hake are typically found offshore in waters that are up to 1200 ft deep where they are seldom encountered by anglers. However after spawning, which is thought to occur in the late summer though winter, their eggs and larvae are carried into coastal waters. The larvae settle in nearshore and inshore waters where the juveniles rapidly grow before migrating offshore as water temperatures rise in the spring and summer. It has been noted, that this species is a very aggressive feeder, which contributes to its rapid growth. Although, Southern Hake will consume most prey that will fit in their mouth, they primary feed on benthic fish and invertebrates that they detect on the bottom with their modified pelvic fins (Figure 2). These fins are very narrow and greatly elongated for this use. Their aggressive feeding nature is what leads to them being captured somewhat frequently by inshore anglers in the winter, despite their relatively low numbers compared to other inshore species and their relatively small size when they are found inshore. Southern Hake that are caught inshore are rarely large enough to be retained for consumption, however, when adults are occasionally captured offshore they are often retained as a food fish. In Florida state and federal waters, this species falls into an unregulated category meaning that there are no set size limits and a daily harvest limit of 100 lbs. Hakes are related to (and have a similar flavor profile as) cod, haddock, and pollock which are common species used in fish and chips as well as processed fish fingers and patties.