Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jun 6, 2026

Macruronus

Macruronus is a genus of gadiform fish, the only member of the family Macruronidae. It was formerly placed in the Merlucciidae. Most are found in southern oceans off Argentina, Chile, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand, but M. maderensis is only known from Madeira. Members of this genus reach 1–1.3 m (3.3–4.3 ft) in length depending on the exact species involved.

Last revised
Jun 6, 2026
Read time
≈ 1 min
Length
317 w
Citations
11
Source
Wikipedia ↗
Macruronus
Blue grenadier (M. novaezelandiae)
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Gadiformes
Suborder: Macrouroidei
Family: Macruronidae
Regan, 1903
Genus: Macruronus
Günther, 1873
Type species
Coryphaenoides novaezelandiae
Hector, 1871
Synonyms

Cynogadus Howes, 1991

Macruronus is a genus of gadiform fish, the only member of the family Macruronidae. It was formerly placed in the Merlucciidae.1234 Most are found in southern oceans off Argentina, Chile, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand, but M. maderensis (which is in need of taxonomic review) is only known from Madeira.25 Members of this genus reach 1–1.3 m (3.3–4.3 ft) in length depending on the exact species involved.2

Species

The currently recognized species in this genus are:2

Note that the Catalog of Fishes considers Macruronus capensis and M. magellanicus (following Leslie and colleagues (2018) and others5) as junior synonyms of M. novaezelandiae.6 This leaves the genus with one confirmed species and one with uncertain status.5

References

References

  1. Fricke, Ron; Eschmeyer, William N. & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Macruronus". Catalog of Fishes. California Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 29 September 2020.
  2. Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.). "Species in genus Macruronus". FishBase. December 2019 version.
  3. Fricke, R.; Eschmeyer, W. N.; Van der Laan, R. (2025). "ESCHMEYER'S CATALOG OF FISHES: CLASSIFICATION". California Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 2025-07-02.
  4. Roa-Varón, Adela; Ortí, Guillermo (2009-09-01). "Phylogenetic relationships among families of Gadiformes (Teleostei, Paracanthopterygii) based on nuclear and mitochondrial data". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 52 (3): 688–704. Bibcode:2009MolPE..52..688R. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2009.03.020. ISSN 1055-7903.
  5. Leslie, Robin W.; Gon, Ofer & Gouws, Gavin (2018). "The taxonomic status of the South African straptail, Macruronus capensis Davies, 1950 (Pisces, Gadiformes, Macruronidae)". Zootaxa. 4374 (1): 91–98. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.4374.1.5. PMID 29689815.
  6. Fricke, Ron; Eschmeyer, William N. & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Macruronus capensis". Catalog of Fishes. California Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 29 September 2020.