''Sillago'' is a

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 ...

fish A fish (: fish or fishes) is an aquatic animal, aquatic, Anamniotes, anamniotic, gill-bearing vertebrate animal with swimming fish fin, fins and craniate, a hard skull, but lacking limb (anatomy), limbs with digit (anatomy), digits. Fish can ...

in 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 ...

Sillaginidae The Sillaginidae, commonly known as the smelt-whitings, whitings, sillaginids, sand borers and sand-smelts, are a family (biology), family of benthic coastal Marine (ocean), marine fish historically classified in the order (biology), order Percif ...

and the only non-

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unisp ...

genus in the family. Distinguishing the

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), ...

can be difficult, with many similar in appearance and colour, forcing the use of

swim bladder The swim bladder, gas bladder, fish maw, or air bladder is an internal gas-filled organ (anatomy), organ in bony fish that functions to modulate buoyancy, and thus allowing the fish to stay at desired water depth without having to maintain lift ...

morphology Morphology, from the Greek and meaning "study of shape", may refer to: Disciplines *Morphology (archaeology), study of the shapes or forms of artifacts *Morphology (astronomy), study of the shape of astronomical objects such as nebulae, galaxies, ...

as a definitive feature. All species are

benthic The benthic zone is the ecological region at the lowest level of a body of water such as an ocean, lake, or stream, including the sediment surface and some sub-surface layers. The name comes from the Ancient Greek word (), meaning "the depths". ...

in nature and generally

coastal fish Coastal fish, also called inshore fish or neritic fish, inhabit the sea between the shoreline and the edge of the continental shelf. Since the continental shelf is usually less than deep, it follows that pelagic coastal fish are generally ep ...

, living in shallow, protected waters although there are exceptions. Minor

fisheries Fishery can mean either the enterprise of raising or harvesting fish and other aquatic life or, more commonly, the site where such enterprise takes place ( a.k.a., fishing grounds). Commercial fisheries include wild fisheries and fish farm ...

exist around various species of ''Sillago'', making them of minor importance in most of their

range Range may refer to: Geography * Range (geographic), a chain of hills or mountains; a somewhat linear, complex mountainous or hilly area (cordillera, sierra) ** Mountain range, a group of mountains bordered by lowlands * Range, a term used to i ...

. This genus has the widest

distribution Distribution may refer to: Mathematics *Distribution (mathematics), generalized functions used to formulate solutions of partial differential equations *Probability distribution, the probability of a particular value or value range of a varia ...

of any smelt-whiting genus, spanning much of the

Indo INDO stands for Intermediate Neglect of Differential Overlap. It is a semi-empirical quantum chemistry method that is a development of the complete neglect of differential overlap (CNDO/2) method introduced by John Pople. Like CNDO/2 it uses zer ...

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is bounded by the cont ...

. The genus ranges from the east coast of

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

in the east and Southern

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 ...

in the south, with most species concentrated around

South East Asia Southeast Asia is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Mainland Au ...

, the

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

n Archipelago and Australia. Many species have overlapping distribution, often making positive identification hard.

Taxonomy

The genus ''Sillago'' is one of five genera in the family

, was previously considered to be part of the

Percoidea Percomorpha () is an extremely large and diverse clade of ray-finned fish. With more than 17,000 known species (including tuna, seahorses, gobies, cichlids, flatfish, wrasse, perches, anglerfish, and pufferfish) known from both marine and fresh ...

, a

suborder Order () is one of the eight major hierarchical taxonomic ranks in Linnaean taxonomy. It is classified between family and class. In biological classification, the order is a taxonomic rank used in the classification of organisms and recognized ...

of the

Perciformes Perciformes (), also called the Acanthopteri, is an order or superorder of ray-finned fish in the clade Percomorpha. ''Perciformes'' means " perch-like". Among the well-known members of this group are perches and darters ( Percidae), and als ...

. The 5th edition of ''

Fishes of the World ''Fishes of the World'' is a standard reference for the systematics of fishes. It was first written in 1976 by the American ichthyologist Joseph S. Nelson (1937–2011). Now in its fifth edition (2016), the work is a comprehensive overview of t ...

'' classifies the Sillaginidae in the order

Spariformes Spariformes is an order of ray-finned fishes consisting of six families within the series Percomorpha. Taxonomy Spariformes was first used as a taxonomic term in 1860 by the Dutch physician, herpetologist and ichthyologist Pieter Bleeker. Trad ...

. The name was first coined by famed taxonomist

Georges Cuvier Jean Léopold Nicolas Frédéric, baron Cuvier (23 August 1769 – 13 May 1832), known as Georges Cuvier (; ), was a French natural history, naturalist and zoology, zoologist, sometimes referred to as the "founding father of paleontology". Cuv ...

as a genus for his newly described species, ''Sillago acuta'', which was later found to be a

junior synonym In taxonomy, the scientific classification of living organisms, a synonym is an alternative scientific name for the accepted scientific name of a taxon. The botanical and zoological codes of nomenclature treat the concept of synonymy differently. ...

of ''S. sihama''. John Richardson placed the genus, along with '' Sillaginodes'' and '' Sillaginopsis'' in a family, which he named the Sillaginidae in 1846. Many species, both valid and invalid were added to the genus and it was not until 1985 when Roland McKay of the

Queensland Museum The Queensland Museum Kurilpa is the state museum of Queensland, funded by the government, and dedicated to natural history, cultural heritage, science and human achievement. The museum currently operates from its headquarters and general museu ...

published a revision of the family Sillaginidae that the complex relationships between these names was cleared up. McKay further divided ''Sillago'' into three

subgenera In biology, a subgenus ( subgenera) is a taxonomic rank directly below genus. In the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, a subgeneric name can be used independently or included in a species name, in parentheses, placed between the ge ...

based primarily on the morphology of the swim bladder.

Species

There are currently 31 recognized species in this genus: * '' Sillago aeolus''

D. S. Jordan David Starr Jordan (January 19, 1851 – September 19, 1931) was the founding president of Stanford University, serving from 1891 to 1913. He was an ichthyologist during his research career. Prior to serving as president of Stanford Universi ...

& Evermann, 1902 (Oriental sillago) * '' Sillago analis'' Whitley, 1943 (Golden-lined sillago) * '' Sillago arabica''

McKay McKay, MacKay or Mackay is a Scottish and Irish surname. The last phoneme in the name is traditionally pronounced to rhyme with 'eye', but in some parts of the world this has come to rhyme with 'hey'. In Scotland, it corresponds to Clan Mackay. ...

& McCarthy, 1989 (Arabian sillago) * '' Sillago argentifasciata'' C. T. Martin & Montalban, 1935 (Silver-banded sillago) * '' Sillago asiatica'' McKay, 1982 (Asian sillago) * '' Sillago attenuata'' McKay, 1985 (Slender sillago) * ''

Sillago bassensis The southern school whiting (''Sillago bassensis''),also known as the silver whiting or trawl whiting, is a common species of coastal marine fish of the smelt-whiting family that inhabits the south and south-west coasts of Australia. Its distrib ...

'' G. Cuvier, 1829 (Western school sillago) * '' Sillago boutani'' Pellegrin, 1905 (Boutan's sillago) * ''

Sillago burrus The western trumpeter whiting (''Sillago burrus'') is a species of Marine (ocean), marine fish of the smelt whiting family Sillaginidae that is commonly found along the northern coast of Australia and in southern Indonesia and New Guinea. As its ...

'' J. Richardson, 1842 (Western trumpeter sillago) * '' Sillago caudicula'' Kaga, Imamura & Nakaya, 2010Kaga, T., Imamura, H. & Nakaya, K. (2010): A new sand whiting, ''Sillago'' (''Sillago'') ''caudicula'', from Oman, the Indian Ocean (Perciformes: Sillaginidae). ''Ichthyological Research, 57 (4): 367–372.'' * ''

Sillago ciliata The sand whiting (''Sillago ciliata''), also known as the summer whiting, yellowfin whiting or blue-nose whiting, is a common species of coastal marine fish of the family Sillaginidae, the smelt-whitings. It is a slender, slightly compressed fish ...

'' G. Cuvier, 1829 (Sand sillago) * '' Sillago flindersi'' McKay, 1985 (Flinders' sillago) * '' Sillago indica'' McKay,

Dutt Dutt () is an Indian family name. Its variation is Dutta. Notable people with the name include: Surname * Amit Dutt, Indian scientist * Anil Dutt, Indian cricketer * Anjan Dutt, Indian film personality * Aroti Dutt, Indian social worker * Asho ...

& Sujatha, 1985 (Indian sillago) Kaga, T. & Ho, H.-C. (2012)
Redescription of ''Sillago'' (''Parasillago'') ''indica'' McKay, Dutt & Sujatha, 1985 (Perciformes: Sillaginidae), with a reassignment to the subgenus ''Sillago''.
''Zootaxa, 3513: 61–67.'' * '' Sillago ingenuua'' McKay, 1985 (Bay sillago) * '' Sillago intermedia'' Wongratana, 1977 (Intermediate sillago) * ''

Sillago japonica The Japanese whiting (''Sillago japonica''), also known as the Japanese sillago or Shiro-gisu, is a common species of coastal marine fish belonging to the smelt-whiting family, Sillaginidae. As suggested by its name, the Japanese whiting was f ...

Temminck Coenraad Jacob Temminck (; 31 March 1778 – 30 January 1858) was a Dutch patrician, zoologist and museum director. Biography Coenraad Jacob Temminck was born on 31 March 1778 in Amsterdam in the Dutch Republic. From his father, Jacob ...

Schlegel Schlegel is a German occupational surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Anthony Schlegel (born 1981), American football player * August Wilhelm Schlegel (1767–1845), German poet, brother of Friedrich * Brad Schlegel (born 1968), C ...

, 1843 (Japanese sillago) * '' Sillago lutea'' McKay, 1985 (Mud sillago) * '' Sillago maculata'' Quoy &

Gaimard Joseph Paul Gaimard (31 January 1793 – 10 December 1858) was a French naval surgeon and naturalist. Biography Gaimard was born at Saint-Zacharie on January 31, 1793. He studied medicine at the naval medical school in Toulon, subsequent ...

, 1824 (Trumpeter sillago) * ''

Sillago megacephalus The large-headed whiting (''Sillago megacephalus'') is a dubious species of coastal marine fish in the smelt-whiting family that has only been recorded from one specimen captured off the coast of China in 1933. Although very similar to '' Sill ...

'' S. Y. Lin, 1933 (Large-headed sillago) * '' Sillago microps'' McKay, 1985 (Small-eyed sillago) * '' Sillago nierstraszi''

Hardenberg Hardenberg (; or '' 'n Arnbarg'') is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Overijssel, Eastern Netherlands. The municipality of ...

, 1941 (Rough sillago) * '' Sillago nigrofasciata'' J. G. Xiao, Zheng-Sen Yu, Na Song & T. X. Gao, 2021 Xiao J-G, Yu Z-S, Song N, Gao T-X (2021) Description of a new species, Sillago nigrofasciata sp. nov. (Perciformes, Sillaginidae) from the southern coast of China. ZooKeys 1011: 85–100. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1011.57302 (Black-banded sillago) * '' Sillago parvisquamis'' T. N. Gill, 1861 (Small-scale sillago) * '' Sillago robusta'' Stead, 1908 (Stout sillago) * '' Sillago schomburgkii'' W. K. H. Peters, 1864 (Yellow-fin sillago) * '' Sillago shaoi'' T. X. Gao & J. G. Xiao, 2016Xiao, J.-G., Song, N., Han, Z.-Q. & Gao, T.-X. (2016)
Description and DNA Barcoding of a New ''Sillago'' species, ''Sillago shaoi'' (Perciformes: Sillaginidae), in the Taiwan Strait.
''Zoological Studies, 55 (47): 1–10.'' * '' Sillago sihama'' ( Forsskål, 1775) (Silver sillago) * '' Sillago sinica'' T. X. Gao, Ji, J. G. Xiao, T. Q. Xue, Yanagimoto & Setoguma, 2011 (Chinese sillago) Gao, T.-X., Ji, D.-P., Xiao, Y.-S., Xue, T.-Q., Yanagimoto, T. & Setoguma, T. (2011)
Description and DNA Barcoding of a New ''Sillago'' Species, ''Sillago sinica'' (Perciformes: Sillaginidae), from Coastal Waters of China.
''Zoological Studies, 50 (2): 254–263.'' * '' Sillago soringa'' Dutt & Sujatha, 1982 * '' Sillago suezensis'' Golani, R. Fricke & Tikochinski, 2013Golani, D., Fricke, R. & Tikochinski, Y. (2013): ''Sillago suezensis'', a new whiting from the northern Red Sea, and status of ''Sillago erythraea'' Cuvier (Teleostei: Sillaginidae). '' Journal of Natural History, 48 (7–8): 413–428.'' * '' Sillago vincenti'' McKay, 1980 (Vincent's sillago) * '' Sillago vittata'' McKay, 1985 (Banded sillago)

Relationship to humans

Various species of this genus represent minor local

in their ranges, with many having commercial importance. Fish are taken by a variety of methods including

seine The Seine ( , ) is a river in northern France. Its drainage basin is in the Paris Basin (a geological relative lowland) covering most of northern France. It rises at Source-Seine, northwest of Dijon in northeastern France in the Langres plat ...

gill A gill () is a respiration organ, respiratory organ that many aquatic ecosystem, aquatic organisms use to extract dissolved oxygen from water and to excrete carbon dioxide. The gills of some species, such as hermit crabs, have adapted to allow r ...

and

cast net A casting net, also called a throw net, is a net used for fishing. It is a circular net with small weights distributed around its edge. The net is cast or thrown by hand in such a manner that it spreads out while it's in the air before it sin ...

s as well as by line.

Recreational fishing Recreational fishing, also called sport fishing or game fishing, is fishing for leisure, exercise or competition. It can be contrasted with commercial fishing, which is occupational fishing activities done for profit; or subsistence fishing, ...

for them is common, especially in Australia where they are valued as

food fish Many species of fish are caught by humans and consumed as food in virtually all regions around the world. Their meat has been an important dietary source of protein and other nutrients in the human diet. The English language does not have a s ...

or for live bait for larger species. Estuarine

aquaculture Aquaculture (less commonly spelled aquiculture), also known as aquafarming, is the controlled cultivation ("farming") of aquatic organisms such as fish, crustaceans, mollusks, algae and other organisms of value such as aquatic plants (e.g. Nelu ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

and

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

has utilized sillagos as an important species and similar trials have been conducted in Australia. They can be very delicious when deep fried.

References

{{Authority control Extant Rupelian first appearances Marine fish genera Sillaginidae Taxa named by Georges Cuvier Rupelian genus first appearances Spariform fish genera