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Micromesistius poutassou (Risso, 1827)

Blue whiting
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Native range | All suitable habitat | Point map | Year 2050
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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.

Slovenia country information

Common names: Sinji mol
Occurrence: native
Salinity: marine
Abundance: | Ref:
Importance: | Ref:
Aquaculture: | Ref:
Regulations: | Ref:
Uses: no uses
Comments: Gulf of Trieste
National Checklist:
Country Information: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/resources/the-world-factbook/geos/si.html
National Fisheries Authority:
Occurrences: Occurrences Point map
Main Ref: Marceta, B., 1999
National Database:

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 Identification keys | 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 Maturities | Reproduction | Spawnings | Egg(s) | Fecundities | 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

More information

Trophic ecology
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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

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 - 0.70, Based on 9 full 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.