Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range
Ecology
Marine; demersal; oceanodromous (Ref. 51243); depth range 0 - 800 m (Ref. 27549). Temperate; 60°N - 28°N, 82°W - 43°W
Western Atlantic: New Foundland and Labrador in Canada to northeastern Florida in USA, but uncommon in nearshore waters south of North Carolina, USA.
Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age
Maturity: Lm 46.5  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 120 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 7251); common length : 90.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 3787); max. published weight: 22.6 kg (Ref. 40637); max. reported age: 30 years (Ref. 796)
Inhabits continental shelf, occurring deeper in southern parts of range (Ref 7251); tolerating a wide range of temperature (0-21°C) (Ref. 5951).
That testes seem to develop earlier and stay ripe longer suggest multiple spawning by males. Eggs are laid in long, ribbon-shaped veils (Ref. 4842).
Robins, C.R. and G.C. Ray, 1986. A field guide to Atlantic coast fishes of North America. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, U.S.A. 354 p. (Ref. 7251)
IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435: Version 2024-2)
Threat to humans
Harmless
Human uses
Fisheries: highly commercial; gamefish: yes
Tools
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Estimates based on models
Preferred temperature (Ref.
123201): 0.6 - 9.9, mean 5 °C (based on 189 cells).
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref.
82804): PD
50 = 0.5078 [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.01380 (0.01038 - 0.01835), b=2.98 (2.90 - 3.06), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this species (Ref.
93245).
Trophic level (Ref.
69278): 4.5 ±0.3 se; based on diet studies.
Generation time: 11.6 ( na - na) years. Estimated as median ln(3)/K based on 2
growth studies.
Resilience (Ref.
120179): Low, minimum population doubling time 4.5 - 14 years (K=0.06-0.1; tmax=30; Fec=300,000).
Prior r = 0.08, 95% CL = 0.05 - 0.12, Based on 1 full stock assessment.
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref.
59153): Very high vulnerability (77 of 100).
Climate Vulnerability (Ref.
125649): Moderate vulnerability (41 of 100).
Nutrients (Ref.
124155): Calcium = 17.5 [9.6, 30.9] mg/100g; Iron = 0.322 [0.195, 0.508] mg/100g; Protein = 20.6 [16.9, 23.2] %; Omega3 = 0.524 [0.201, 1.355] g/100g; Selenium = 16.1 [5.1, 55.8] μg/100g; VitaminA = 15.4 [5.1, 48.2] μg/100g; Zinc = 0.253 [0.127, 0.797] mg/100g (wet weight);