The small-eyed whiting, ''Sillago microps'', 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 is known from only two

specimen Specimen may refer to: Science and technology * Sample (material), a limited quantity of something which is intended to be similar to and represent a larger amount * Biological specimen or biospecimen, an organic specimen held by a biorepository ...

s; the holotype collected by Roland McKay in 1985 from a Taipei market, both specimens of which were taken from the waters of Taiwan. Apart from a relatively small eye size, the species is hard to distinguish from other common species of sillaginid taken in the area, and may be a minor part of local

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

Taxonomy and naming

The small-eyed 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 ...

Percoidei. The species was first described by Roland McKay in his 1985 review of the Sillaginidae based on two specimens collected from a Taipei market, Taiwan; one of which was designated to be the type specimen. 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 ...

s both reflect the distinguishing feature of the species; its unusually small eyes.

Description

The small-eyed whiting is very similar in appearance to other members of the genus '' Sillago'', with the only obvious distinguishing feature of the species being its unusually small eye size (only 14% to 16% of head length), as well as its

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. Other diagnostic features include the

spine Spine or spinal may refer to: Science Biology * Vertebral column, also known as the backbone * Dendritic spine, a small membranous protrusion from a neuron's dendrite * Thorns, spines, and prickles, needle-like structures in plants * Spine (zoolog ...

and

ray Ray may refer to: Fish * Ray (fish), any cartilaginous fish of the superorder Batoidea * Ray (fish fin anatomy), a bony or horny spine on a fin Science and mathematics * Ray (geometry), half of a line proceeding from an initial point * Ray (g ...

counts, with the first spinous dorsal fin having 11 spines and the second dorsal fin having one spine and 19 soft rays. 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 ...

has two spines followed by 19 soft rays. The species has 34 vertebrae and 68 to 69

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, with cycloid cheek scales. The species reaches at least 20 cm in length. The body is a pale to dull brown colour, lighter on the underside of the fish and usually having a faint mid-lateral band below the lateral line. The fins are all

hyaline A hyaline substance is one with a glassy appearance. The word is derived from el, ὑάλινος, translit=hyálinos, lit=transparent, and el, ὕαλος, translit=hýalos, lit=crystal, glass, label=none. Histopathology Hyaline cartilage is ...

in colour with the exception of the spinous dorsal fin which is dusky at the tips, with five or six rows of dusky spots on the membranes of the second dorsal fin.

Distribution and habitat

The only two recorded specimens of the small-eyed whiting were taken from a market in Taipei, Taiwan. No other records of the fish have been reported. The habitat of the species is also largely unknown, but the only specimens were taken alongside both ''

Sillago sihama The northern whiting (''Sillago sihama''), also known as the silver whiting and sand smelt, is a marine fish, the most widespread and abundant member of the smelt-whiting family Sillaginidae. The northern whiting was the first species of sillagi ...

'' and ''

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 ...

'' which inhabit primarily sandy and silty substrates in major estuaries, thus indicating ''S. microps'' may as well. Nothing else is known of the biology or the contribution to local fisheries of the small-eyed whiting.

References

External links

Small-eyed whiting at fishbase
{{Taxonbar, from=Q952285 Sillaginidae Taxa named by Roland J. McKay Fish described in 1985