#2108 · 🐟 fish
Whiting
🇳🇱 Wijting ·Merlangius merlangus
📍 Borssele, Nederland
📍 Noordelijke Atlantische Oceaan, Friesland, NL
📍 Borssele, Nederland
📍 1795 De Cocksdorp, Nederland
📍 Zuid-Beveland, Zeeland, NL
📍 3199 Maasvlakte Rotterdam, Nederland
10 photos from iNaturalist (Creative Commons) · credits & licences
- 1. © Biopix · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 2. © Michael Verdirame · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 3. © Špela Puhov · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 4. © reyon · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 5. Borssele, Nederland:© Ruben Vermeule · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 6. Noordelijke Atlantische Oceaan, Friesland, NL:© Roy Erkens · CC BY-ND 4.0
- 7. Borssele, Nederland:© Ruben Vermeule · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 8. 1795 De Cocksdorp, Nederland:© floris_heemskerk · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 9. Zuid-Beveland, Zeeland, NL:© jelle_wissink · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 10. 3199 Maasvlakte Rotterdam, Nederland:© Marleen Schouten · CC BY-NC 4.0
what is it?
Merlangius merlangus , commonly known as whiting or merling , is an important food fish in the eastern North Atlantic Ocean and the northern Mediterranean, western Baltic, and Black Sea. In English-speaking countries outside the whiting's natural range, the name has been applied to various other species of fish.
base stats
Bars compare against all animals on log scales: up to 300,000 Dutch and 600,000 worldwide sightings (the most-seen species), 150 t (blue whale), 30 m and 400 years (Greenland shark).
fun facts
- Spotted 31 times in the Netherlands on iNaturalist: the #37 most seen of the fish in NL.
- 381 observations worldwide on iNaturalist.
- Scientifically named in 1758 (268 years ago).
fact sheet
- English
- Whiting
- Nederlands
- Wijting
- scientific name
- Merlangius merlangus
- class
- Actinopterygii
- order
- Gadiformes
- family
- Gadidae
- IUCN Red List
- LC · least concern
- sightings in NL
- 31
- sightings in Europe
- 292
- sightings worldwide
- 381
- GBIF records in NL
- 109,359
- weight
- —
- length
- —
- lifespan
- —
- named
- 1758
IUCN in Dutch: niet bedreigd. Blank means the sources don't say.
relatives· Gadidae
Sources: iNaturalist taxon 430553, Wikidata Q273083, GBIF 2415788, Wikipedia (EN), Wikipedia (NL). Intro text from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-24.