774 articles
Lutjanus argentimaculatus
Lutjanus argentimaculatus, the mangrove red snapper or mangrove jack, is an Indo-West Pacific lutjanid snapper. Juveniles live in mangrove estuaries, adults on reefs to 100+ m; a commercial fish, farmed, IUCN Least Concern.
Lutjanus guttatus
Lutjanus guttatus, the spotted rose snapper (pargo lunarejo), is an Eastern Pacific snapper from the Gulf of California to Peru, a main artisanal fishery target, IUCN Least Concern, and an emerging cage-aquaculture species.
Lutjanus synagris
Lutjanus synagris, the lane snapper (villajaiba, ariacó), a western Atlantic Lutjanidae reef fish from North Carolina to southeastern Brazil, identified by yellow stripes and a black dorsal spot; several stocks overfished.
Mackerel
Mackerel: epipelagic Scombridae fish, chiefly Atlantic mackerel (Scomber scombrus) and chub mackerel (Scomber japonicus); fast-growing schooling predators, heavily fished, oily flesh, managed under ICES and NOAA plans.
Mackerel as food
Mackerel as food: oily Scombridae fish (saba, 鯖) including Atlantic, chub, horse and king mackerel; high in omega-3 and vitamin D, low-mercury except king mackerel, histamine-prone, canned, smoked and cured worldwide.
Macrouridae
Macrouridae, the grenadiers or rattails, is a large family of gadiform deep-sea fishes with about 375-400 species, whip-like tails lacking a caudal fin, benthopelagic habits from 200 to 7,000 m, and modest trawl fisheries.
Macruronus novaezelandiae
Macruronus novaezelandiae, hoki or blue grenadier, is a Merlucciidae hake of New Zealand and Australia. It supports New Zealand's largest finfish fishery, spawns June–September, and its 2025 assessment placed stocks within the 35–50% target range.
Mahi-mahi
Mahi-mahi (Coryphaena hippurus), also dolphinfish or dorado; Hawaiian for strong; fast-growing epipelagic game fish reaching 7 ft and 88 lb, maturing at 4-5 months, caught worldwide in tropical and subtropical waters.
Manta ray
Manta rays are giant plankton-feeding rays of the genus Mobula, represented by three species including the reef manta and the giant oceanic manta, the largest ray in the world.
Marbled lungfish
Marbled lungfish (Protopterus aethiopicus, Heckel 1851), an African freshwater lungfish of the Nile and Congo basins; obligate air-breather up to 200 cm and 17 kg that aestivates in mud cocoons.
Marcusenius macrolepidotus
Marcusenius macrolepidotus, the bulldog, is a weakly electric African mormyrid fish (Peters, 1852) from the Zambezi, Congo, Cunene and Okavango systems, reaching 32 cm, with sexually dimorphic electric organ discharges and IUCN status Least Concern.
Marlin
Marlin: large bill-nosed predatory fishes of the family Istiophoridae, including blue (Makaira nigricans), black (Istiompax indica), striped (Kajikia audax), and white marlin; prized game fish managed by ICCAT, IATTC, WCPFC, and IOTC.
Matsya (मत्स्य)
Matsya (मत्स्य, "fish") is the first avatar of the Hindu god Vishnu, who as a fish saves Manu, the Vedas, and the seeds of life from a cosmic flood; earliest told in the Shatapatha Brahmana, elaborated in the Puranas.
Megalodon
Megalodon (Otodus megalodon, formerly Carcharocles megalodon), extinct giant shark of 23 to 3.6 million years ago, largest shark ever, known mainly from 18 cm teeth; estimates up to 24.3 m; not alive today.
Megamouth shark
Megamouth shark (Megachasma pelagios), sole species of Megachasmidae, a rare filter-feeding lamniform shark discovered off Hawaii in 1976; third largest filter-feeding shark, feeding on krill by suction, IUCN Least Concern.
Mekong giant catfish (ปลาบึก)
Mekong giant catfish (ปลาบึก, Pangasianodon gigas), also called pla buk, a critically endangered Mekong-endemic shark catfish; up to 3 m and 300 kg, herbivorous, population down 80%, protected under CITES Appendix I.
Menidia menidia
Menidia menidia, the Atlantic silverside (capucette), is a small annual atherinopsid fish of western Atlantic estuaries from the Gulf of St. Lawrence to Florida, known for countergradient latitudinal growth adaptation and an exceptionally diverse genome.
Mercury in fish
Mercury in fish is methylmercury, the organic mercury form that bioaccumulates in seafood and is the main dietary mercury exposure. Key facts: JECFA PTWI 1.6 µg/kg bw, FDA/EPA fish advice, Minamata disease, Minamata Convention.
Merlangius merlangus
Merlangius merlangus, the whiting, a gadid fish of the northeast Atlantic, Mediterranean, and Black Sea; benthopelagic at 30–100 m, three dorsal fins, no chin barbel, major North Sea fishery with ICES stock-by-stock advice.
Merlion
Merlion: lion-headed, fish-bodied mythical creature designed in 1964 by Alec Fraser-Brunner as the Singapore Tourist Promotion Board logo; symbol of Temasek and Singapura; 8.6 m, 70-tonne statue unveiled 1972, moved to Merlion Park 2002.
Merluccius australis
Merluccius australis, southern hake (also Gadus australis, M. polylepis), a benthopelagic gadiform hake circumglobal in the southern hemisphere with New Zealand and Patagonian populations, fished commercially in Chile and New Zealand.
Merluccius bilinearis
Merluccius bilinearis, silver hake or whiting, a northwest Atlantic demersal gadiform hake from Newfoundland to South Carolina; two U.S. stocks, both not overfished, 2024 landings 11.7 million pounds.
Merluccius capensis
Merluccius capensis, the shallow-water Cape hake, is a merluccid hake from Angola to KwaZulu-Natal, living at 100–450 m. With M. paradoxus it supports major Namibian and South African trawl fisheries, historically assessed as one combined stock.
Merluccius hubbsi
Merluccius hubbsi, Argentine hake (merluza argentina), a Merlucciidae gadiform of the SW Atlantic from 22°S to 55°S; Argentina's main fishery, with northern and Patagonian stocks and a San Matías Gulf population.
Merluccius merluccius
Merluccius merluccius, the European hake (merlu européen, merluza europea), is a demersal gadoid fish from Norway to the Gulf of Guinea and the Mediterranean, fished mainly by trawl and gillnet, with EU catches of 76,000 t in 2023.
Merluccius productus
Merluccius productus, the Pacific hake or Pacific whiting (North Pacific hake), is a gadiform hake of the family Merlucciidae off the western North American coast; its trans-boundary coastal stock is the Pacific Coast's most abundant commercial fish stock, jointly assessed by the US and Canada.
Micromesistius poutassou
Micromesistius poutassou, blue whiting (bacaladilla, merlan bleu), a small mesopelagic gadid of the Northeast Atlantic and Mediterranean; dense-schooling plankton feeder supporting a major pelagic fishery with 2026 ICES advice of 851,344 tonnes.
Micropogonias furnieri
Micropogonias furnieri, the whitemouth croaker (corvina), is a Sciaenidae fish from Yucatan to Argentina, key to southwestern Atlantic fisheries, with multiple Brazilian stocks and a 46,000-tonne TAC.
Micropogonias undulatus
Micropogonias undulatus, the Atlantic croaker, a demersal sciaenid fish from the Gulf of Maine to Argentina, named for spawning croaks; estuarine nursery, fast growth, major US Atlantic recreational and commercial fishery.
Milkfish
Milkfish (Chanos chanos), called bangus in the Philippines, is a herbivorous food fish of the tropical Indo-Pacific and a main farmed finfish in Southeast Asia for centuries.