Silver sillago
Sillago sihama
- Usual depth0–38 m
- Water temperature18–30 °C
- Best monthsApril, September, and October
- How commonOccasional
About this species
The northern whiting, 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 sillaginid scientifically described and is therefore the type species of both the family Sillaginidae and the genus Sillago. The species is distributed in the Indo-Pacific region from South Africa in the west to Japan and Indonesia in the east. The northern whiting inhabits coastal areas to 60 m, but is most often found in shallow water around bays and estuaries, often entering freshwater. It is a carnivore, taking a variety of polychaetes and crustaceans. The species is of major economic importance throughout the Indo-Pacific. It is most frequently taken by seine nets and cast nets and marketed fresh.
Text from the Wikipedia article “Northern whiting”, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the article
Where and when
Where it has been recorded
Worldwide
Loading the map
Best months
Worldwide (open data)
- January: 27 records
- February: 44 records
- March: 30 records
- April: 68 records
- May: 51 records
- June: 57 records
- July: 51 records
- August: 53 records
- September: 65 records
- October: 71 records
- November: 38 records
- December: 40 records
Depth and water temperature
Depth
Mostly recorded at 0–38 m · Deepest record: 154 m
Water temperature
Recorded in surface water of 18–30 °C
Names and classification
- English
- Silver sillago, Common asohos, northern whiting, silver sillago, Smelt
Names in 5 more languages
- Spanish
- Silago Plateado
- French
- Pêche-madame argenté
- Japanese
- モトギス
- Thai
- ปลาช่อนทรายแก้ว, ปลาซ่อนทราย, ปลาทราย, ปลาบุรุด, ปลาเห็ดโคน
- Simplified Chinese
- kiss魚, 多鱗沙鮻, 多鱗鱚, 沙腸仔
Other scientific names: Atherina sihama, Platycephalus sihamus, Sciaena malabarica, Sillago acuta, Sillago erythraea, Sillago ihama, Sillago malabarica, Sillago sehama
Similar species
- Japanese Sillago
Sillago japonica
- trumpeter whiting
Sillago maculata
- Oriental sillago
Sillago aeolus
- Large-scale Whiting
Sillaginops macrolepis
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).
- 4,205 open-data records from 1775 to 2023.
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