Family GERREIDAE

Common name: Silverbiddies

Silhouette

  • identify fish
Summary:

Small to medium-sized fishes with a slender to deep, compressed body, a concave snout, and a highly protrusible mouth that points downwards when extended.

Gerreids have a single long-based dorsal fin, high at the front; pectoral fins long, pointed; pelvic fins below or just behind pectoral-fin base; caudal fin strongly forked. Body covered in large conspicuous scales, including a deep scaly sheath at dorsal and anal-fin bases.

Found worldwide in tropical to temperate seas. Gerreids live on sandy or muddy bottoms in bays, estuaries and along the margins of reefs, feeding on invertebrates such as crustaceans and polychaete worms living in the sediment.

Image Gallery

Cite this page as:
Dianne J. Bray, Silverbiddies, GERREIDAE in Fishes of Australia, accessed 20 Apr 2024, https://fishesofaustralia.net.au/home/family/98

References

  • Allen, G.R. 1997. Marine Fishes of Tropical Australia and South-east Asia. Perth : Western Australian Museum 292 pp. 106 pls.
  • Allen, G.R. & Swainston, R. 1988. The Marine Fishes of North-Western Australia. A field guide for anglers and divers. Perth, WA : Western Australian Museum vi 201 pp., 70 pls.
  • Allen, G.R., Midgley, S.H. & Allen, M. 2002. Field Guide to the Freshwater Fishes of Australia. Perth : Western Australian Museum 394 pp.
  • Coleman, N. 1980. Australian Sea Fishes South of 30ºS. Lane Cove, NSW : Doubleday Australia Pty Ltd 309 pp.
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  • Gloerfelt-Tarp, T. & Kailola, P.J. 1984. Trawled Fishes of Southern Indonesia and Northwest Australia. Jakarta : Dir. Gen. Fish. (Indonesia), German Tech. Coop., Aust. Dev. Ass. Bur. 406 pp.
  • Gomon, M.F., Glover, C.J.M. & Kuiter, R.H (eds) 1994. The Fishes of Australia's South Coast. Adelaide : State Printer 992 pp. 810 figs.
  • Grant, E.M. 1975. Guide to Fishes. Brisbane : Queensland Government, Co-ordinator General’s Department 640 pp.
  • Grant, E.M. 1991. Fishes of Australia. Brisbane : EM Grant Pty Ltd 480 pp.
  • Hutchins, J.B. & Thompson, M. 1983. The Marine and Estuarine Fishes of South-western Australia. Perth : Western Australian Museum 103 pp. 345 figs.
  • Iwatsuki, Y. & Kimura, S. 1997. Gerres methueni Regan, 1920, a senior synonym of G. rappi (Barnard, 1927) (Teleostei: Perciformes: Gerreidae). Ichthyological Research 44(1): 1-7 figs 1-2
  • Iwatsuki, Y. Kimura, S. & Yoshino, T. 2007. A review of the Gerres subfasciatus complex from the Indo-West Pacific, with three new species (Perciformes: Gerreidae). Ichthyological Research 54: 168-185
  • Iwatsuki, Y., Kimura, S. & Yoshino, T. 1998. Redescription of Gerres erythrourus (Bloch, 1791), a senior synonym of G. abbreviatus Bleeker, 1850 (Teleostei : Perciformes: Gerreidae). Copeia 1998(1): 165-172 fig. 1
  • Iwatsuki, Y., Kimura, S. & Yoshino, T. 1999. Redescription of Gerres baconensis (Evermann & Seale, 1907), G. equulus Temminck & Schlegel, 1844 and G. oyena Forskål, included in the "G. oyena" complex with notes on other related species (Perciformes: Gerreidae). Ichthyological Research 46(4): 377-393
  • Iwatsuki, Y., Kimura, S. & Yoshino, T. 2001. Redescription of Gerres longirostris (Lacepède, 1801) and Gerres oblongus Cuvier in Cuvier and Valenciennes, 1830, included in the Gerres longirostris complex (Perciformes: Gerreidae). Copeia 2001(4): 954-965
  • Iwatsuki, Y., Kimura, S., Kishimoto, H. & Yoshino, T. 1996. Validity of the gerreid fish, Gerres macracanthus Bleeker, 1854, with designation of a lectotype, and designation of a neotype for G. filamentosus Cuvier, 1829. Ichthyological Research 43(4): 417-429 figs 1-4
  • Kuiter, R.H. 1993. Coastal Fishes of South-eastern Australia. Bathurst : Crawford House Press 437 pp.
  • Kuiter, R.H. 1996. Guide to sea fishes of Australia. A comprehensive reference for divers and fishermen. Sydney, NSW, Australia : New Holland Publishers xvii, 434 pp.
  • Last, P.R., Scott, E.O.G. & Talbot, F.H. 1983. Fishes of Tasmania. Hobart : Tasmanian Fisheries Development Authority 563 pp. figs.
  • Nelson, J.S. 2006. Fishes of the World. Hoboken, New Jersey : John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 601 pp.
  • Randall, J.E., Allen, G.R. & Steene, R. 1990. Fishes of the Great Barrier Reef and Coral Sea. Bathurst : Crawford House Press 507 pp. figs.
  • Randall, J.E., Allen, G.R. & Steene, R. 1997. Fishes of the Great Barrier Reef and Coral Sea. Bathurst : Crawford House Press 557 pp. figs.
  • Russell, B.C. & Houston, W. 1989. Offshore fishes of the Arafura Sea. The Beagle, Records of the Museums and Art Galleries of the Northern Territory 6(1): 69-84
  • Sainsbury, K.J., Kailola, P.J. & Leyland, G.G. 1985. Continental Shelf Fishes of Northern and North-Western Australia. Canberra : Fisheries Information Service 375 pp. figs & pls.
  • Thomson, J.M. 1978. A Field Guide to the Common Sea & Estuary Fishes of Non-tropical Australia. Sydney : Collins 144 pp.
  • Woodland, D.J. 2001. Gerreidae. pp. 2946-2960 in Carpenter, K.E. & Niem, V.H. (eds). The Living Marine Resources of the Western Central Pacific. FAO Species Identification Guide for Fisheries Purposes. Rome : FAO Vol. 5 2791-3379 pp.