Cape hake are found around southern and south-western Africa, off South Africa and Namibia. There are two species of cape hake: deep-water and shallow-water. It is very difficult to tell the species apart, and they often overlap geographically, so catches are not distinguished from one another. As the names suggest, shallow-water cape hake are found in shallower areas (up to 550m deep) while deep-water cape hake can be found between 200 and 850m deep. They reach maturity at around 50cm length and spawn in spring/summer (shallow-water cape hake spawn from October-December and deep-water cape hake from September to November). The larger shallow-water species (they can grow up to 120cm, although tend to be around 50cm) eats young deep-water hake, as well as other fishes and crustaceans. Deep-water hake (which can be up to 82cm but also tend to be around 50cm), eat plankton and fishes. Cannibalism is seen in both species. Hake undertake daily vertical migration - they aggregate close to the bottom in the daytime and move higher in the water at night to feed. Trawling is the most common capture method for both species, with trawlers targeting them on the sea floor in the daytime.