Tarwhine, Rhabdosargus sarba (Forsskål 1775)

Other Names: Goldlined Seabream, Silver Bream

A Tarwhine, Rhabdosargus sarba, at Fairy Bower, Sydney Harbour, New South Wales - showing the large scale in the axil of the pelvic fin. Source: John Turnbull / Flickr. License: CC by Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike

Summary:

Body greyish with a silvery-gold sheen, underside silvery-white, fine yellowish to golden stripes along the sides, pelvic and anal fins yellowish to brownish-yellow.
Video of Tarwhine feeding at Shelly Beach, Manly, NSW.

Cite this page as:

Dianne J. Bray, Rhabdosargus sarba in Fishes of Australia, accessed 18 Apr 2024, https://fishesofaustralia.net.au/Home/species/679

Tarwhine, Rhabdosargus sarba (Forsskål 1775)

More Info

Distribution	Recorded in Australia from Bremer Bay to Exmouth Gulf, WA, and from Townsville, QLD to Mallacoota, VIC. Elsewhere the species is widespread in the Indo-West Pacific, from the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf to South Africa, eastwards to the South China Sea and Japan, and southwards to eastern and western Australia.
Features	Meristic features: Dorsal fin XI, 12-14; Anal fin III, 10-11; Pectoral fin 14-16; Pored lateral line scales 56-64; Scale rows above/below lateral line 6.5-8.5 / 12.5-14.5; Gill rakers 5-6 + 7-9 = 12-15.
Biology	A protandrous hermaphrodite (changes sex from male to female), that spawns multiple times from July to November in Western Australia. Tarwhine reportedly move offshore into deeper waters to spawn in Western Australia.
Fisheries	This popular angling species commonly taken with hook and line. Tarwhine are of minor commercial importance SW Australia where they are taken in estuarine gill net and haul net finfish fisheries.
Similar Species	Differs from the Yellowfin Bream, Acanthopagrus australis, and the Black Bream Acanthopagrus butcheri, in having a golden colouration, a more rounded snout, more scale rows above the lateral line (6.5-8.5 vs 4 rows in both bream species), and in having the thrid anal-fin spine equal in length to the second spine (vs shorter in both species of bream).
Species Citation	Sparus sarba Forsskål, 1775, Descriptiones animalium: 31. Type locality (lectotype) Jidda (as Djiddae), Saudi Arabia, Red Sea.
Author	Dianne J. Bray

Tarwhine, Rhabdosargus sarba (Forsskål 1775)

References

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