Yellowfin Whiting, Sillago schomburgkii Peters 1864

Other Names: Fine-scale Whiting, Silver Whiting, Western Sand Whiting, Yellow Fin Whiting, Yellowfin Sillago, Yellowfinned Whiting, Yellow-finned Whiting, Yellow-finned Whiting

Yellowfin Whiting, Sillago schomburgkii, at Haycock Point, Carrickalinga, South Australia, April 2010. Source: David Muirhead / iNaturalist.org. License: CC By Attribution-NonCommercial

Summary:

A silvery whiting with bright yellow pelvic and anal fins, and no spots, blotches or stripes along the upper sides in adults. Juveniles have dark blotches along the upper sides.

Cite this page as:

Bray, D.J. 2020, Sillago schomburgkii in Fishes of Australia, accessed 17 May 2025, https://fishesofaustralia.net.au/Home/species/3698

Yellowfin Whiting, Sillago schomburgkii Peters 1864

More Info

Distribution	Gulf St Vincent, South Australia, to Port Hedland, Western Australia. Inhabits inshore sand banks, bars, spits and seagrass beds, sometimes congregating in sandy hollows, and moving over sand flats to feed at high tide.
Features	Dorsal fin X-XII + I, 19-20; Anal fin II, 17-20; Pectoral fin 15-16; Pelvic fin I, 5; Caudal fin 17; Lateral-line scales 67-76. Body elongate, Slightly compressed, shallow (19 22% SL). Head of moderate size (24-27% SL); eyes moderately small (17-20% HL); mouth small, somewhat horseshoe-shaped; jaws with a broad band of fine teeth, outer teeth of upper jaw somewhat enlarged. Head and body, except for snout and lower parts of head, covered with moderately small ctenoid scales, cheek scales in four or five rows. Lateral line arching slightly over pectoral fins. Two moderately low dorsal fins barely separated, or united by low membrane, first formed of weak spines, base of second twice length of first; anal fin long, arising below second or third ray of dorsal fin, but otherwise similar to and opposite; caudal fin forked. Pelvic fins small, arising below base of pectoral fins.
Colour	Sandy brown to sandy yellow, slightly darker above, sometimes with a narrow, indistinct lateral band; dorsal, anal and caudal fins pale yellow to whitish, dorsal fins often with small brown to grey spots; pelvic fins distinctly yellow. Juveniles with a series of dark blotches along the back, and a row of eight to ten additional blotches along the sides from behind each pectoral fin to the caudal-fin base.
Fisheries	A popular recreational and commercial fish.
Similar Species	The similar Sand Whiting, Sillago ciliata, has a dark blotch on the pectoral-fin base, especially in juveniles.
Etymology	The species is named in honour of botanist Richard Schomburgk, who collected the type specimen.
Species Citation	Sillago schomburgkii Peters 1864, Monatsberichte der Königlichen Preussischen Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Berlin 1864: 391. Type locality: Adelaide, South Australia.
Author	Bray, D.J. 2020
Resources	Atlas of Living Australia Australian Faunal Directory Catalog of Fishes

Yellowfin Whiting, Sillago schomburgkii Peters 1864

References

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