See text Macrourus is a small benthopelagic genus of rattails from the family Macrouridae.

The species in the genus Macrourus have large broad heads which are over four times as deep as they are long with a snout which varies from rounded to bluntly pointed, with a substantial modified spiny scale at its tip.

They have a strong, suborbital ridge that extends onto preopercle and ends with a sharp point.

[1] 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.

[1] Macrourus species are important food fishes in the North Atlantic and off the Patagonian coast of Argentina.