About Urophycis regia (Walbaum, 1792)
The spotted hake (scientific name Urophycis regia (Walbaum, 1792)) has a tapering body, two dorsal fins, and filamentous pelvic fins, traits it shares with white hake and red hake. It can be differentiated from these two species by several characteristics: it does not have a prolonged filament formed by the third dorsal fin ray, it has larger scales, and it has a larger mouth where the end of the maxillary sits behind the back of the eye. This species has distinct coloration: the distal half of its dorsal fin is black with a narrow white margin, its lateral line is black but interrupted by a series of white spots, and its pelvic fins are white. This species, also called spotted codling, is distributed in the northwestern Atlantic, ranging from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico.
