Ground Mullet

About this species

The little weed whiting is a species of ray-finned fish, a weed whiting from the family Labridae which is endemic to Australia. It occurs along the Southern Australian coast, including Tasmania, ranging north to Cockburn Sound on the Indian Ocean side, and to north of the city of Sydney on the Pacific Ocean side. It inhabits marine and brackish waters, preferring sheltered areas such as estuaries and also on rocky reefs and in seagrass beds. It occurs at depths of from 1 to 22 metres. This species grows to a length of 14 centimetres (5.5 in) SL. It can also be found in the aquarium trade. This species is the only known member of its genus.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Little weed whiting”, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the article

Where and when

Where it has been recorded

Worldwide

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Best months

Worldwide (open data)

January: 200 records
February: 171 records
March: 405 records
April: 222 records
May: 217 records
June: 176 records
July: 81 records
August: 84 records
September: 206 records
October: 156 records
November: 148 records
December: 209 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 5 m · Deepest record: 35 m

0–10 m: 810 records
10–20 m: 47 records
20–30 m: 5 records
30–40 m: 8 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 14–21 °C

12–14 °C: 96 records
14–16 °C: 334 records
16–18 °C: 17 records
18–20 °C: 97 records
20–22 °C: 36 records

Photos

(c) Bruce Deagle, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Bruce Deagle, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Christopher Mark, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Lawrence Hylton, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) ttsquid, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Belinda Forbes, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Lek Khauv, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

Names and classification

English: Ground Mullet, Little Rock-whiting, Little Rock Whiting, Little Weed-whiting, Little Weed Whiting

Names in 1 more languages

Simplified Chinese: 纵带新岩鱚

Other scientific names: Neoodax waterhousii, Odax algensis, Odax balteatus, Odax brunneus, Odax obscurus

Similar species

Blue Groper
Achoerodus gouldii
Blue Groper
Achoerodus viridis
Hawaiian Hogfish
Bodianus albotaeniatus
Tripletail wrasse
Cheilinus trilobatus
Blunt-head Parrotfish
Chlorurus microrhinos
Spectacled Parrotfish
Chlorurus perspicillatus

Sources and credits

Names and taxonomy: WoRMS (CC BY 4.0) and the GBIF Backbone (CC BY 4.0). Photos: iNaturalist observers, each under the licence shown (CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA).

Depth, temperature, months and maps: records from OBIS and GBIF under CC0 or CC BY.
Descriptions: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA, each linked to its article.
Conservation status as published by GBIF (IUCN Red List).
2,498 open-data records from 1910 to 2023.
Species data updated November 4, 2026.