The Indian whiting (''Sillago indica'') is a poorly known species of coastal

marine Marine is an adjective meaning of or pertaining to the sea or ocean. Marine or marines may refer to: Ocean * Maritime (disambiguation) * Marine art * Marine biology * Marine debris * Marine habitats * Marine life * Marine pollution Military * ...

fish of the smelt-whiting family

Sillaginidae The Sillaginidae, commonly known as the smelt-whitings, whitings, sillaginids, sand borers and sand-smelts, are a family of benthic coastal marine fish in the order Perciformes. The smelt-whitings inhabit a wide region covering much of the Indo ...

. The species was named in 1985, having previously being misidentified as another species of Sillago, ''S. parvisquamis''. The Indian whiting inhabits the east and west coasts of the Indian subcontinent, apparently not extending to the southern tip of India. Like all sillaginids, it is

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 ancient Greek, βένθος (bénthos), meaning "t ...

in nature, living in depths to 30 m where it is caught by fishermen alongside other species of ''Sillago''.

Taxonomy and naming

The Indian whiting is one of 29 species in the genus '' Sillago'', which is one of three divisions of the smelt whiting family

. The smelt-whitings are Perciformes in the

suborder Order ( la, ordo) 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 ...

Percoidea. The species was first named by McKay in his comprehensive review of the Sillaginidae, with

coauthor Collaborative writing, or collabwriting is a method of group work that takes place in the workplace and in the classroom. Researchers expand the idea of collaborative writing beyond groups working together to complete a writing task. Collaboration ...

s Dutt and Sujatha contributing the section on ''S. indica''. The species was previously misidentified as ''

Sillago parvisquamis The small-scale whiting (''Sillago parvisquamis'') (also known as the blue whiting), is a species of inshore marine fish of the smelt-whiting family Sillaginidae. The small-scale whiting is very similar in body shape and colour to other species i ...

'' by the latter two authors in earlier publications, with McKay pointing out the only noticeable difference between the two is the

swim bladder The swim bladder, gas bladder, fish maw, or air bladder is an internal gas-filled Organ (anatomy), organ that contributes to the ability of many bony fish (but not cartilaginous fish) to control their buoyancy, and thus to stay at their curren ...

morphology, as well as an indistinct black band in the side of the fish. For this reason, the fish goes unidentified in most catches, usually referred to as a number of other sillaginids. The species

binomial Binomial may refer to: In mathematics *Binomial (polynomial), a polynomial with two terms * Binomial coefficient, numbers appearing in the expansions of powers of binomials *Binomial QMF, a perfect-reconstruction orthogonal wavelet decomposition ...

and

common name In biology, a common name of a taxon or organism (also known as a vernacular name, English name, colloquial name, country name, popular name, or farmer's name) is a name that is based on the normal language of everyday life; and is often contrast ...

reflects the species geographical distribution, confined to India only.

Description

As with most of the genus ''Sillago'', the Indian whiting has a slightly compressed, elongate body tapering toward the terminal mouth. The body is covered in small ctenoid scales extending to the cheek and head. The first dorsal fin has 11 spines and the second dorsal fin has 1 leading spine with 21 to 22 soft rays posterior. The

anal fin Fins are distinctive anatomical features composed of bony spines or rays protruding from the body of a fish. They are covered with skin and joined together either in a webbed fashion, as seen in most bony fish, or similar to a flipper, as se ...

is similar to the second dorsal fin, but has 2 spines with 22 to 23 soft rays posterior to the spines. Other distinguishing features include 68 to 70

lateral line The lateral line, also called the lateral line organ (LLO), is a system of sensory organs found in fish, used to detect movement, vibration, and pressure gradients in the surrounding water. The sensory ability is achieved via modified epithelial ...

scales and a total of 34 vertebrae. The species has a known maximum length of 17 cm, and possibly longer. The

is quite distinct, having a bifurcate

anterior Standard anatomical terms of location are used to unambiguously describe the anatomy of animals, including humans. The terms, typically derived from Latin or Greek roots, describe something in its standard anatomical position. This position prov ...

extensions, while the anterolateral extensions are recurved and extend to the ventral duct. There is a single posterior extension. The colour of the Indian whiting is a light tan with a dark brown—blackish band starting behind the upper part of the

opercle The operculum is a series of bones found in bony fish and chimaeras that serves as a facial support structure and a protective covering for the gills; it is also used for respiration and feeding. Anatomy The opercular series contains four bon ...

and curving down below

for approximately two thirds the length and continuing slightly or directly on the lateral line as a broken band or elongate spots. The head, cheeks,

belly Belly may refer to: Anatomy * The abdomen, the part of the body between the pelvis and the thorax; or the stomach ** A beer belly, an overhang of fat above the waist, presumed to be caused by regular beer drinking ** Belly dance * The fleshy, cent ...

and lower sides are covered in a sprinkling of black spots. The interspinous membrane of the first dorsal fin, the individual soft rays and the caudal fin are also spotted, with the caudal fin heavily spotted.

Distribution and habitat

As suggested by its name, the Indian whiting is endemic to India, with two populations of the species known, with apparently no movement between these eastern and western populations. The species inhabits

inshore A shore or a shoreline is the fringe of land at the edge of a large body of water, such as an ocean, sea, or lake. In physical oceanography, a shore is the wider fringe that is geologically modified by the action of the body of water past a ...

coastal waters in a range of depths from 0 to 30 m. Due to its relatively recent naming and difficulty of identification, very little knowledge on the biology of the species has been collected.

Relationship to humans

Like all other species of ''Sillago'', the Indian whiting is taken amongst inshore catches but not distinguished from other sillaginids, with no specific information available on the

fishery 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 ground). Commercial fisheries include wild fisheries and fish farms, both ...

. It is often taken by drift net, shore

seine ) , mouth_location = Le Havre/Honfleur , mouth_coordinates = , mouth_elevation = , progression = , river_system = Seine basin , basin_size = , tributaries_left = Yonne, Loing, Eure, Risle , tributarie ...

and cast net by local fisheries, and by mini trawlers.

References

External links

Indian whiting at Fishbase
{{DEFAULTSORT:whiting, Indian Indian whiting Fish of India Taxa named by Roland J. McKay Taxa named by Someshwar Dutt Pathak Taxa named by Sujatha Kandula Indian whiting