 The species of "Macrourus" are found on the upper- to middle continental slope which are restricted to cold temperate and polar waters in both the North and South Atlantic as well as in the Southern Ocean.They are found at depths from around 200 m to greater than 3,000m.They normally prefer temperatures of between 1°C and 4°C, although on species, the Antarctic roughhead ("Macrourus whitsoni"), has been collected at temperatures which were slightly below 0°C.