Common Name: Sand Whiting

Distribution: Abundant in the Solitary Islands Marine Park. Distributed throughout the Western Pacific region: east coast of Australia, Lord Howe Island, New Caledonia Papua New Guinea. In Australia recorded from north Queensland (rare) south through New South Wales to the Victorian border and around Tasmania.

Ecological Notes: Frequents onshore areas of coastal beaches, surf zones, estuaries and bays, coastal lakes. Adults keep to deeper water, up to 46 m, usually 20 m.

Additional Notes: Uniform silvery colour, juveniles with a dark spot at base of pectoral fin. Sought after sport and food fish, feeds on crustaceans and polychaete worms. Grows to 51 cm.

References: Atlas of Living Australia website at https://bie.ala.org.au/search?q=Sillago+ciliata. Accessed 29/05/18.

 FishBase. Froese, R. and D. Pauly. Editors. 2018. World Wide Web electronic publication. https://fishbase.ca/summary/Sillago-ciliata.html. Accessed 29/05/18.