Species: Urophycis earllii, Carolina Hake

Urophycis earllii (Bean, 1880)

Carolina Hake

Body soft, elongate; tail base narrow; no V shaped ridge on top of head; eye small, about 1/5 of head length; gill openings wide, extending above pectoral fins; mouth large, extends to under center of eye or further back, overhung by snout; chin barbel short; well developed patch of teeth on front of roof of mouth; 2 upper gill rakers; fins without spines; 2 dorsal fins, 1st short based and triangular, 10 rays, without an elongated ray; second long based, with straight edge, 60-63 rays; 1 anal fin, long based, without an indentation on edge, 50-56 rays; pelvic fins under end of opercle, bases well separated, with 2 rays forming long feelers, longest ray not reaching origin of anal fin; tail fin separate from dorsal and anal fins, small, rounded; pectoral fin not reaching beyond anal fin origin; lateral line system on head with pores; scales round, overlapping, not set at right angles, ~93 along lateral line, 18-21 rows between dorsal fin origin and lateral line; lateral line complete.

Dark brownish, pale mottling on sides.

Reaches 45 cm.

On and above hard bottoms.

Depth range: 5-81 m.

N Carolina to the Gulf of Mexico.

Note: The Gulf of Mexico population apparently is an unnamed separate species.