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- Purple marsh crabs are significantly disrupting carbon cycling in salt marshes along the East Coast of the U.S., according to a study led by Batten School & VIMS scientists.
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- As an expression of parental pride in their daughter, Taylor Spencer ‘83 and Martha Spencer recently established an undergraduate field research endowment at the Batten School & VIMS.
  
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Silver hake

Merluccius bilinearis

Information and species illustrations courtesy of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

Species Information
Size Maximum length about 76 cm.
Diagnostic characters Head length 24 to 27% of standard length; gill rakers long and pointed, 16 to 20 total on first arch. Second dorsal fin with 37 to 42 soft rays; anal fin with 37 to 42 soft rays. Scale rows 101 to 110 on lateral line. Total number of vertebrae 26 to 29. Colour: greyish dorsally, remaining areas silvery white.
Habitat, biology, and fisheries Inhabits continental shelf depths from about 55 to 300 m, but also found in upper-slope waters to more than 900 m; occasionally strays into shallow coastal waters; seasonally migrates to shallower waters during warmer months, to deeper offshore waters in winter. Young of 1 to 3 years feed primarily on invertebrates (mostly crustaceans, especially euphausiids and pandalids); older fish feed mostly on fish and cephalopods; cannibalism significant and may regulate population of species. Spawning occurs in summer and early autumn and is highly dependent on water temperature. An important commercial fish in Area 21, but not found in significant quantities in Area 31. Marketed fresh, frozen, and smoked.
Distribution Atlantic coast of North America from Florida to Newfoundland.
Citations Carpenter, K.E. (ed) The living marine resources of the Western Central Atlantic. Volume 1: Introduction, molluscs, crustaceans, hagfishes, sharks, batoid fishes, and chimaeras. FAO Species Identification Guide for Fishery Purposes and American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists Special Publication No. 5. Rome, FAO. 2002. pp. 1-600. Carpenter, K.E. (ed) The living marine resources of the Western Central Atlantic. Volume 2: Bony fishes part 1 (Acipenseridae to Grammatidae). FAO Species Identification Guide for Fishery Purposes and American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists Special Publication No. 5. Rome, FAO. 2002. pp. 601-1374. Carpenter, K.E. (ed) The living marine resources of the Western Central Atlantic. Volume 3: Bony fishes part 2 (Opistognathidae to Molidae), sea turtles and marine mammals. FAO Species Identification Guide for Fishery Purposes and American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists Special Publication No. 5. Rome, FAO. 2002. pp. 1375-2127.