Body more slender than other hakes. Pectoral fins long and slender, stripe reaching anal fin in young individuals but not in fish over 50 cm. Color is steel gray on back grading to silvery white ventrally. Thousands of small razor sharp cusps are found on their teeth making it almost impossible for their prey to escape.

Found at depths between 415 and 1000 m in New Zealand waters,

The New Zealand population feeds mainly on fishes (especially gadoids), squids, euphausiids and benthic organisms.

Adults probably migrate southward during the southern summer for feeding and return to the north in winter for spawning. Spawning takes place from August to September on the western coast of South Island, from September to November in the northern part of the Campbell Plateau, and between November and January on Chatham Rise.
Abundant off the Otago Heads in 1900, scarecly seen today.

A Treasury of New Zealand Fishes: Graham
Cohen, D.M., T. Inada, T. Iwamoto and N. Scialabba, 1990. FAO species catalogue. Vol. 10. Gadiform fishes of the world (Order Gadiformes). An annotated and illustrated catalogue of cods, hakes, grenadiers and other gadiform fishes known to date. FAO Fish. Synop. 125(10). Rome: FAO. 442 p.