Sillaginidae
The smelt-whitings are mostly inshore fishes that inhabit sandy, silty, and muddy substrates on both low- and high-energy environments ranging from protected tidal flats and estuaries to surf zones.[2] The species Cheilodipterus panijus was named in 1822 by Francis Buchanan-Hamilton and was subsequently reexamined by Theodore Gill in 1861, leading to the creation of the monotypic genus Sillaginopsis.John Richardson was the first to propose that Sillago, the only genus of sillaginid then recognised, be assigned to their own taxonomic family, "Sillaginidae" (used interchangeably with 'Sillaginoidae'), at a meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science.[3] There were, however, many differing opinions on the relationships of the "sillaginoids", leading to the naturalists of the day continually revising the position of the five genera, placing in them in a number of families.The first review of the sillaginid fishes was Gill's 1861 work "Synopsis of the sillaginoids", in which the name "Sillaginidae" was popularized and expanded on to include Sillaginodes and Sillaginopsis,[4] however the debate on the placement of the family remained controversial.Fossils suggest the sillaginids ranged as far north as Poland and Germany, and as far south as New Zealand,[12] found in shallow water sedimentary deposits along with other species of extant genera.[14] Sillago Parasillago Sillaginopodys Sillaginodes Sillaginopsis The relationships of the Sillaginidae are poorly known, with very similar morphological characteristics and a lack of genetic studies restricting the ability to perform cladistic analyses on the family.[18] The 5th edition of Fishes of the World placed Sillaginidae in the order Spariformes [1] but other workers have classified the family as incertae sedis within the series Eupercaria.[19] The current taxonomic status of the family is thought to represent a basic picture of the group's phylogeny, with McKay further dividing the genus Sillago into three subgenera based on shared morphological characters of the swimbladder.[20] Furthermore, morphological data suggests a number of Australian species diverged very recently during the last glacial maximum, which caused land bridges to isolate populations of fish.[5] The Sillaginidae are distributed throughout the Indo-Pacific region, ranging from the west coast of Africa to Japan and Taiwan in the east, as well occupying as a number of small islands including New Caledonia in the Pacific Ocean.[18] While they have a fairly wide distribution, the highest species densities occur along the coasts of India, China, Taiwan, South East Asia, the Indonesian Archipelago and northern Australia.[24] No members of the family are known to undergo migratory movements, and have been shown to be relatively weak swimmers, relying on currents to disperse juveniles.[27] Studies from the waters of Thailand, Philippines and Australia have shown that polychaetes, a variety of crustaceans, molluscs and to a lesser extent echinoderms and fish are the predominant prey items of the family.[28][29][30] Commonly taken crustaceans include decapods, copepods and isopods, while the predominant molluscs taken are various species of bivalves, especially the unprotected siphon filters that protrude from the shells.In all species studied, some form of diet shift occurs as the fishes mature, often associated with a movement to deeper waters and thus to new potential prey.[6] There is a large body of evidence that shows whiting do not rely on visual cues when feeding, instead using a system based on the vibrations emitted by their prey.[6] The Sillaginidae are also host to a variety of well studied internal and external parasites, which are represented prominently by the groups Digenea, Monogenea and Myxosporea, Copepoda and Nematoda.[50] The bait used is normally anything from the surrounding environment which the whiting naturally prey on, with polychaetes, bivalves, crustaceans such as prawns and crabs, cephalopods and small fish effective for most species.
EoceneRecentPreꞒScientific classificationEukaryotaAnimaliaChordataActinopterygiiAcanthuriformesRichardsonType genusSillagoCuvierSillaginodesSillaginopodysSillaginopsSillaginopsisfamilybenthiccoastalmarinePerciformesFishes of the WorldSpariformesIndo-PacificAfricaAustraliageneraspecieswhitingNorthern HemisphereMerlangius merlangusinshoresubstratestidal flatsestuariessurf zonesshoalscarnivorespolychaetescrustaceansmolluscsechinodermsfisheriesnorthern whitingJapanese whitingKing George whitingsubsistencebycatchtrawlingseine netscast netsrecreational fishermenscientifically describedSillago sihamaPeter ForsskålAtherinaGeorges Cuvierjunior synonymichthyologicalHistoire Naturelle des PoissonsAchille ValenciennesTheodore GillmonotypicJohn RichardsonBritish Association for the Advancement of Sciencesynonymsgeographical variationtaxonomistsQueensland MuseumsubspeciesspecimensSillago reefextantin doubtholotypeFishbaseSillaginopodys chondropusSillaginops macrolepisSillaginopsis panijusSillago ingenuuaT.N. GillSillaginodes punctatusFowlerBleekerHamiltonSillago aeolusD. S. JordanEvermannSillago analisWhitleySillago arabicaSillago argentifasciataSillago asiaticaSillago attenuataSillago bassensisSillago boutaniPellegrinSillago burrusSillago caudiculaNakayaSillago ciliataSillago erythraeaSillago flindersiSillago indicaSillago intermediusSillago japonicaTemminckSchlegelSillago luteaSillago maculataGaimardSillago megacephalusSillago micropsSillago nierstrasziSillago nigrofasciataSillago parvisquamisSillago robustaSillago schomburgkiiW. K. H. PetersForsskålSillago sinicaSillago soringaSillago suezensisGolaniR. Fricke