The blue weed whiting (''Haletta semifasciata'') is a
species
A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...
of
ray-finned fish
Actinopterygii (; ), members of which are known as ray-finned fish or actinopterygians, is a class of bony fish that comprise over 50% of living vertebrate species. They are so called because of their lightly built fins made of webbings of sk ...
, a
weed whiting from the
family
Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...
Odacidae
The Odacidae are a small Family (biology), family of ray-finned fishes commonly known as cales and weed whitings, formerly classified within the Order (biology), order Perciformes. They are related to the much larger families of the wrasses and p ...
, which is
endemic
Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...
to
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
where it is only found along the southern coast. It is found in brackish and marine waters in sheltered locations at depths of from . This species inhabits areas with a substrate of sand with beds of
seagrass
Seagrasses are the only flowering plants which grow in marine (ocean), marine environments. There are about 60 species of fully marine seagrasses which belong to four Family (biology), families (Posidoniaceae, Zosteraceae, Hydrocharitaceae and ...
where it feeds on small
invertebrates
Invertebrates are animals that neither develop nor retain a vertebral column (commonly known as a ''spine'' or ''backbone''), which evolved from the notochord. It is a paraphyletic grouping including all animals excluding the chordate subphylum ...
and
algae
Algae ( , ; : alga ) is an informal term for any organisms of a large and diverse group of photosynthesis, photosynthetic organisms that are not plants, and includes species from multiple distinct clades. Such organisms range from unicellular ...
and the seagrasses themselves. This species grows to a length of
SL. It is of minor importance to local
commercial fisheries
Commercial fishing is the activity of catching fish and other seafood for commercial profit, mostly from wild fisheries. It provides a large quantity of food to many countries around the world, but those who practice it as an industry must often p ...
. This species is the only known member of its
genus
Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...
.
[
]
Gallery
File:Blue Weed-whiting, The Esplanade, Flinders VIC 3929, Australia imported from iNaturalist photo 32265256.jpg
File:Blue Weed-whiting, The Esplanade, Flinders VIC 3929, Australia imported from iNaturalist photo 32265361.jpg
File:Blue Weed-whiting, Victoria, Australia imported from iNaturalist photo 108832605.jpg
File:Haletta semifasciata.jpg
References
Odacidae
Taxa named by Achille Valenciennes
Fish described in 1840
{{Labriformes-stub