The best known species are in the genera Macruronus and Merluccius. These predatory fish are up to 1.55 m (5 ft 1 in) in length, though most only reach about half that length, inhabiting the waters of the continental shelf and upper continental slope, where they feed on small fish such as lanternfishes. Several species are important commercial fish, for example the blue grenadier (Macruronus novaezelandiae) that is fished in the southwest Pacific and the North Pacific hake (Merluccius productus) that is fished off western North America.
The taxonomy of the Merluccidae is not settled, with some authorities raising two or three subfamilies, the Merluccinae, Macruroninae,[4] and Steindachneriinae, while other authorities raise the latter two into their own families, the Macruronidae and the monotypic Steindachneriidae.[5]
This would mean the genera would be arranged as:[5]
