Golden lined whiting
Encyclopedia
The golden lined whiting, Sillago analis (also known as the Tin Can Bay whiting or rough-scale whiting), is a species
of inshore marine
fish
of the smelt whiting family, Sillaginidae
that inhabits the coastlines of northern Australia
and lower Papua New Guinea
. The golden lined whiting can be more readily distinguished by its colour than other whitings in the genus Sillago, although swim bladder morphology and spine and ray counts are the most precise method of identification. S. analis is an opportunistic predator, taking a variety of crustacean
s, polychaete
s and molluscs, with a transition of diet seen as the fish mature. One unusual aspect about the species diet is the large amounts of molluscan siphons it takes. The species spawns between January and March, with juvenile fish inhabiting the shallow protected coastal waters. Golden lined whiting is important to fisheries centered around Shark Bay
in Western Australia
and also in Queensland
, although makes up a relatively minor component of the whiting fishery.
Sillago
, which contain 29 other species. It is part of the Sillaginidae
family which is a division of the Percoidei
, a suborder of the Perciformes
.
The species was named by Whitley
in 1943 as Sillago analis, designating a specimen collected at Shark Bay
as the holotype
. Another currently valid species of sillaginid, Sillago nierstraszi is according McKay (1985) almost certainly a senior synonym
of S. analis. The holotype for S. nierstraszi has not been examined by McKay, however, and uncertainty about this relationship remains.
S. analis has a three local names used in northern Australia, with 'golden lined whiting' the most prevalent. 'Tin Can Bay whiting' is applied to the species in parts of Queensland, referring to the locality of the same name
in that state, while the name 'rough-scale whiting is also used in parts of Western Australia
.
consisting of 11 spines followed by a second dorsal fin consisting of one spine and between 16 and 18 soft rays. The anal fin has 2 spines followed by 14 to 17 soft rays. Over the distribution of the species, the vertebrae number differs, with fish in Western Australia
having 33 and those in south east Queensland
having one or two additional modified vertebrae. Also varying over the range is the lateral line
scale count, with Western Australian fish having less than Queensland fish, with the range for the species between 54 and 61 scales.
The swim bladder of the species is very similar and in some cases indistinguishable from a related species, Sillago ciliata, with the anterior part of the swim bladder having rudimentary tubules projecting anteriorly and a lateral
series of tubules that diminishes in size and become sawtooth-like, projecting posteriorly.
The golden lined whiting's common name is derived from its colour, having a dull golden-silver to golden-yellow band running longitudinally on the sides below the lateral line. The body is an overall silver colour, being slightly darker above. The pelvic and anal fins are pale to bright yellow, while the pectoral fin has a darker dusting of fine black-brown spots with no black spot at the base.
along the northern coastline of Australia, from Shark Bay
in Western Australia north along the coastline of the Northern Territory
, around the Queensland coastline to Moreton Bay. The species also extends north to the south coast of Papua New Guinea
, although inhabits a small range. The species prefers shallow, protected waters up to a maximum of 10 m depth, often inhabiting protected embayments. The juvenile
s tend to remain in the warmer, shallow waters of protected inlets, mangrove
s and estuaries
, often with other species of whiting. Adults prefer to inhabit protected mud
dy tidal streams where they forage in the silt
y substrate
, while other species of whiting in the range move to open tidal sand flats.
s which they 'plough' from the sand
, small bivalves, including Mesodesma eltanae and Glauconome virens as well as amphipods while at lengths less than 80 mm. Adult fish tend to take larger prey, predominantly larger bivalves with small quantities of penaeids and brachyuran crab
s, which corresponds to a dentition
al change to molariform crushing plates.
Studies by Brewer et al. (1992) have shown that the Golden lined whiting is an opportunistic nocturnal hunter, taking the most vulnerable, easily accessible prey. This may because they are relatively abundant, poorly shelled or unable to escape quickly. The most commonly caught prey at night were crustaceans, while buried annelid
s were ignored and molluscs were left alone except for taking the unprotected siphon
tips of a species of bivalve; Glauconome virens. A study on the diet of young S. analis from a mangrove
tidal flat in Deception Bay
in Queensland has shown that the siphon tips of this mollusc comprise the majority of most fish's diet, with very few other molluscs taken whole. Adult fish greater than 200 mm had no siphons in their diet however, electing to take larger molluscs, annelids or crustaceans.
s of the species are larger than the male
s when they reach maturity, attaining a length of 216 mm compared to males 184 mm. Twenty percent of the females and 60% of the males of S. analis reach maturity by the end of their second year of life, with all individuals mature by the end of the third.
Juveniles of the species inhabit shallow shores including lower sections of creeks
and river
s, favouring mud
dy-sand
substrates also with less than 1 m depth. The species has been known to reach a maximum of 45 cm long.
. The amount of fish taken by professional
s fluctuates, with an example monthly 1998/1999 catch weighing 5,399 kg, a massive amount less than the 196,293 kg of western sand whiting
taken in the same period.
Being that the juveniles enter mangrove
creeks, the species may be a future candidate for estuarine
aquaculture
, which has seen other species of sillaginid
cultured in Asia
.
The species is a common target for recreational fishermen
, with large catches possible. Golden lined whiting respond to bait which resembles their normal prey and are taken on yabbies
, crabs, soldier crab
s, mussel
s of many different sorts, worm
s and prawn
, in particular jelly prawn. This species will also take a variety of wet flies
and small lure
s. They are commonly caught over their foraging habitats, particularly sand flats, tailing sand banks, shallow and deep weed
beds, over yabby beds, and particularly in muddy mangrove areas.
The flesh of this whiting is sweet and although slightly softer in texture than the sand whiting
, is equal to it for high eating quality.
In Queensland, the minimum size for taking golden lined whiting is 23 cm, and there is no limit the amount that can be taken.
Species
In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...
of inshore marine
Marine (ocean)
Marine is an umbrella term. As an adjective it is usually applicable to things relating to the sea or ocean, such as marine biology, marine ecology and marine geology...
fish
Fish
Fish are a paraphyletic group of organisms that consist of all gill-bearing aquatic vertebrate animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish, as well as various extinct related groups...
of the smelt whiting family, Sillaginidae
Sillaginidae
The Sillaginidae, commonly known as the smelt-whitings, whitings, sillaginids, sand borers and sand-smelts, are a family of benthic coastal marine fishes in the order Perciformes. The smelt-whitings inhabit a wide region covering much of the Indo-Pacific, from the west coast of Africa east to Japan...
that inhabits the coastlines of northern Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
and lower Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea , officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is a country in Oceania, occupying the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and numerous offshore islands...
. The golden lined whiting can be more readily distinguished by its colour than other whitings in the genus Sillago, although swim bladder morphology and spine and ray counts are the most precise method of identification. S. analis is an opportunistic predator, taking a variety of crustacean
Crustacean
Crustaceans form a very large group of arthropods, usually treated as a subphylum, which includes such familiar animals as crabs, lobsters, crayfish, shrimp, krill and barnacles. The 50,000 described species range in size from Stygotantulus stocki at , to the Japanese spider crab with a leg span...
s, polychaete
Polychaete
The Polychaeta or polychaetes are a class of annelid worms, generally marine. Each body segment has a pair of fleshy protrusions called parapodia that bear many bristles, called chaetae, which are made of chitin. Indeed, polychaetes are sometimes referred to as bristle worms. More than 10,000...
s and molluscs, with a transition of diet seen as the fish mature. One unusual aspect about the species diet is the large amounts of molluscan siphons it takes. The species spawns between January and March, with juvenile fish inhabiting the shallow protected coastal waters. Golden lined whiting is important to fisheries centered around Shark Bay
Shark Bay, Western Australia
Shark Bay is a World Heritage Site in the Gascoyne region of Western Australia. It is an area centred approximately on , 800 kilometres north of Perth, on the westernmost point of Australia. An expedition led by Dirk Hartog happened upon the area in 1616, becoming the second group of Europeans...
in Western Australia
Western Australia
Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...
and also in Queensland
Queensland
Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
, although makes up a relatively minor component of the whiting fishery.
Taxonomy and naming
The golden lined whiting is a member of the genusGenus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
Sillago
Sillago
Sillago is one of three genera in the family Sillaginidae containing the smelt-whitings, and contains 29 species, making Sillago the only non-monotypic genus in the family. Distinguishing among Sillago species can be difficult, with many similar in appearance and colour, forcing the use of swim...
, which contain 29 other species. It is part of the Sillaginidae
Sillaginidae
The Sillaginidae, commonly known as the smelt-whitings, whitings, sillaginids, sand borers and sand-smelts, are a family of benthic coastal marine fishes in the order Perciformes. The smelt-whitings inhabit a wide region covering much of the Indo-Pacific, from the west coast of Africa east to Japan...
family which is a division of the Percoidei
Percoidei
Percoidei is one of eighteen suborders of bony fish in the order Perciformes. Many commercially harvested fish species are contained in this suborder, including the snappers, jacks, whitings, groupers, bass, perches and porgies.-Divisions:...
, a suborder of the Perciformes
Perciformes
The Perciformes, also called the Percomorphi or Acanthopteri, is one of the largest orders of vertebrates, containing about 40% of all bony fish. Perciformes means perch-like. They belong to the class of ray-finned fish and comprise over 7,000 species found in almost all aquatic environments...
.
The species was named by Whitley
Gilbert Percy Whitley
Gilbert Percy Whitley was a British-born Australian ichthyologist and malacologist who was Curator of Fishes at the Australian Museum in Sydney for about 40 years. He was born at Swaythling, Southampton, England, and was educated at King Edward VI School, Southampton and Osborne House...
in 1943 as Sillago analis, designating a specimen collected at Shark Bay
Shark Bay, Western Australia
Shark Bay is a World Heritage Site in the Gascoyne region of Western Australia. It is an area centred approximately on , 800 kilometres north of Perth, on the westernmost point of Australia. An expedition led by Dirk Hartog happened upon the area in 1616, becoming the second group of Europeans...
as the holotype
Holotype
A holotype is a single physical example of an organism, known to have been used when the species was formally described. It is either the single such physical example or one of several such, but explicitly designated as the holotype...
. Another currently valid species of sillaginid, Sillago nierstraszi is according McKay (1985) almost certainly a senior synonym
Synonym (taxonomy)
In scientific nomenclature, a synonym is a scientific name that is or was used for a taxon of organisms that also goes by a different scientific name. For example, Linnaeus was the first to give a scientific name to the Norway spruce, which he called Pinus abies...
of S. analis. The holotype for S. nierstraszi has not been examined by McKay, however, and uncertainty about this relationship remains.
S. analis has a three local names used in northern Australia, with 'golden lined whiting' the most prevalent. 'Tin Can Bay whiting' is applied to the species in parts of Queensland, referring to the locality of the same name
Tin Can Bay, Queensland
Tin Can Bay is a town in south east Queensland, Australia. The seaside town is located on a deep but narrow sheltered inlet in the Gympie Local Government Area, 218 kilometres north of the state capital, Brisbane...
in that state, while the name 'rough-scale whiting is also used in parts of Western Australia
Western Australia
Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...
.
Description
The golden lined whiting has a very similar profile to other members of the genus Sillago, with a slightly compressed, elongate body tapering toward the terminal mouth. It differs from some members of the genus in that its ventral profile is more rounded than most other species, which tend to have a flat profile. The number of spines and rays, vertebrae and swim bladder morphology are other distinguishing features. S. analis has a first dorsal finDorsal fin
A dorsal fin is a fin located on the backs of various unrelated marine and freshwater vertebrates, including most fishes, marine mammals , and the ichthyosaurs...
consisting of 11 spines followed by a second dorsal fin consisting of one spine and between 16 and 18 soft rays. The anal fin has 2 spines followed by 14 to 17 soft rays. Over the distribution of the species, the vertebrae number differs, with fish in Western Australia
Western Australia
Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...
having 33 and those in south east Queensland
Queensland
Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
having one or two additional modified vertebrae. Also varying over the range is the lateral line
Lateral line
The lateral line is a sense organ in aquatic organisms , used to detect movement and vibration in the surrounding water. Lateral lines are usually visible as faint lines running lengthwise down each side, from the vicinity of the gill covers to the base of the tail...
scale count, with Western Australian fish having less than Queensland fish, with the range for the species between 54 and 61 scales.
The swim bladder of the species is very similar and in some cases indistinguishable from a related species, Sillago ciliata, with the anterior part of the swim bladder having rudimentary tubules projecting anteriorly and a lateral
Anatomical terms of location
Standard anatomical terms of location are designations employed in science that deal with the anatomy of animals to avoid ambiguities that might otherwise arise. They are not language-specific, and thus require no translation...
series of tubules that diminishes in size and become sawtooth-like, projecting posteriorly.
The golden lined whiting's common name is derived from its colour, having a dull golden-silver to golden-yellow band running longitudinally on the sides below the lateral line. The body is an overall silver colour, being slightly darker above. The pelvic and anal fins are pale to bright yellow, while the pectoral fin has a darker dusting of fine black-brown spots with no black spot at the base.
Distribution and habitat
The golden lined whiting is located in the southern Indo-PacificIndo-Pacific
The Indo-Pacific is a biogeographic region of the Earth's seas, comprising the tropical waters of the Indian Ocean, the western and central Pacific Ocean, and the seas connecting the two in the general area of Indonesia...
along the northern coastline of Australia, from Shark Bay
Shark Bay, Western Australia
Shark Bay is a World Heritage Site in the Gascoyne region of Western Australia. It is an area centred approximately on , 800 kilometres north of Perth, on the westernmost point of Australia. An expedition led by Dirk Hartog happened upon the area in 1616, becoming the second group of Europeans...
in Western Australia north along the coastline of the Northern Territory
Northern Territory
The Northern Territory is a federal territory of Australia, occupying much of the centre of the mainland continent, as well as the central northern regions...
, around the Queensland coastline to Moreton Bay. The species also extends north to the south coast of Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea , officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is a country in Oceania, occupying the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and numerous offshore islands...
, although inhabits a small range. The species prefers shallow, protected waters up to a maximum of 10 m depth, often inhabiting protected embayments. The juvenile
Juvenile (organism)
A juvenile is an individual organism that has not yet reached its adult form, sexual maturity or size. Juveniles sometimes look very different from the adult form, particularly in terms of their colour...
s tend to remain in the warmer, shallow waters of protected inlets, mangrove
Mangrove
Mangroves are various kinds of trees up to medium height and shrubs that grow in saline coastal sediment habitats in the tropics and subtropics – mainly between latitudes N and S...
s and estuaries
Estuary
An estuary is a partly enclosed coastal body of water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea....
, often with other species of whiting. Adults prefer to inhabit protected mud
Mud
Mud is a mixture of water and some combination of soil, silt, and clay. Ancient mud deposits harden over geological time to form sedimentary rock such as shale or mudstone . When geological deposits of mud are formed in estuaries the resultant layers are termed bay muds...
dy tidal streams where they forage in the silt
Silt
Silt is granular material of a size somewhere between sand and clay whose mineral origin is quartz and feldspar. Silt may occur as a soil or as suspended sediment in a surface water body...
y substrate
Substrate (marine biology)
Stream substrate is the material that rests at the bottom of a stream. There are several classification guides. One is:*Mud – silt and clay.*Sand – Particles between 0.06 and 2 mm in diameter.*Granule – Between 2 and 4 mm in diameter....
, while other species of whiting in the range move to open tidal sand flats.
Diet
The diet of the golden lined whiting varies along its range, however it takes similar food and shows the same transition in prey items during its lifetime throughout its distribution. Juvenile fish tend to take a mixture of polychaetePolychaete
The Polychaeta or polychaetes are a class of annelid worms, generally marine. Each body segment has a pair of fleshy protrusions called parapodia that bear many bristles, called chaetae, which are made of chitin. Indeed, polychaetes are sometimes referred to as bristle worms. More than 10,000...
s which they 'plough' from the sand
Sand
Sand is a naturally occurring granular material composed of finely divided rock and mineral particles.The composition of sand is highly variable, depending on the local rock sources and conditions, but the most common constituent of sand in inland continental settings and non-tropical coastal...
, small bivalves, including Mesodesma eltanae and Glauconome virens as well as amphipods while at lengths less than 80 mm. Adult fish tend to take larger prey, predominantly larger bivalves with small quantities of penaeids and brachyuran crab
Crab
True crabs are decapod crustaceans of the infraorder Brachyura, which typically have a very short projecting "tail" , or where the reduced abdomen is entirely hidden under the thorax...
s, which corresponds to a dentition
Dentition
Dentition pertains to the development of teeth and their arrangement in the mouth. In particular, the characteristic arrangement, kind, and number of teeth in a given species at a given age...
al change to molariform crushing plates.
Studies by Brewer et al. (1992) have shown that the Golden lined whiting is an opportunistic nocturnal hunter, taking the most vulnerable, easily accessible prey. This may because they are relatively abundant, poorly shelled or unable to escape quickly. The most commonly caught prey at night were crustaceans, while buried annelid
Annelid
The annelids , formally called Annelida , are a large phylum of segmented worms, with over 17,000 modern species including ragworms, earthworms and leeches...
s were ignored and molluscs were left alone except for taking the unprotected siphon
Siphon
The word siphon is sometimes used to refer to a wide variety of devices that involve the flow of liquids through tubes. But in the English language today, the word siphon usually refers to a tube in an inverted U shape which causes a liquid to flow uphill, above the surface of the reservoir,...
tips of a species of bivalve; Glauconome virens. A study on the diet of young S. analis from a mangrove
Mangrove
Mangroves are various kinds of trees up to medium height and shrubs that grow in saline coastal sediment habitats in the tropics and subtropics – mainly between latitudes N and S...
tidal flat in Deception Bay
Deception Bay, Queensland
Deception Bay is a suburb north of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. Its Local Government Area is the Moreton Bay Region and is located approximately 32 km north of Brisbane in the south-eastern corner of the bay of the same name which separates the Redcliffe peninsula and Bribie...
in Queensland has shown that the siphon tips of this mollusc comprise the majority of most fish's diet, with very few other molluscs taken whole. Adult fish greater than 200 mm had no siphons in their diet however, electing to take larger molluscs, annelids or crustaceans.
Reproduction
S. analis spawns between the months of January and March. The femaleFemale
Female is the sex of an organism, or a part of an organism, which produces non-mobile ova .- Defining characteristics :The ova are defined as the larger gametes in a heterogamous reproduction system, while the smaller, usually motile gamete, the spermatozoon, is produced by the male...
s of the species are larger than the male
Male
Male refers to the biological sex of an organism, or part of an organism, which produces small mobile gametes, called spermatozoa. Each spermatozoon can fuse with a larger female gamete or ovum, in the process of fertilization...
s when they reach maturity, attaining a length of 216 mm compared to males 184 mm. Twenty percent of the females and 60% of the males of S. analis reach maturity by the end of their second year of life, with all individuals mature by the end of the third.
Juveniles of the species inhabit shallow shores including lower sections of creeks
Stream
A stream is a body of water with a current, confined within a bed and stream banks. Depending on its locale or certain characteristics, a stream may be referred to as a branch, brook, beck, burn, creek, "crick", gill , kill, lick, rill, river, syke, bayou, rivulet, streamage, wash, run or...
and river
River
A river is a natural watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, a lake, a sea, or another river. In a few cases, a river simply flows into the ground or dries up completely before reaching another body of water. Small rivers may also be called by several other names, including...
s, favouring mud
Mud
Mud is a mixture of water and some combination of soil, silt, and clay. Ancient mud deposits harden over geological time to form sedimentary rock such as shale or mudstone . When geological deposits of mud are formed in estuaries the resultant layers are termed bay muds...
dy-sand
Sand
Sand is a naturally occurring granular material composed of finely divided rock and mineral particles.The composition of sand is highly variable, depending on the local rock sources and conditions, but the most common constituent of sand in inland continental settings and non-tropical coastal...
substrates also with less than 1 m depth. The species has been known to reach a maximum of 45 cm long.
Relationship to humans
The golden lined whiting is a major commercial species in some parts of its range, particularly in Shark Bay and to a lesser extent in Queensland. It is often taken alongside other species of whiting which also constitute major parts of the local fisheryFishery
Generally, a fishery is an entity engaged in raising or harvesting fish which is determined by some authority to be a fishery. According to the FAO, a fishery is typically defined in terms of the "people involved, species or type of fish, area of water or seabed, method of fishing, class of boats,...
. The amount of fish taken by professional
Commercial fishing
Commercial fishing is the activity of catching fish and other seafood for commercial profit, mostly from wild fisheries. It provides a large quantity of food to many countries around the world, but those who practice it as an industry must often pursue fish far into the ocean under adverse conditions...
s fluctuates, with an example monthly 1998/1999 catch weighing 5,399 kg, a massive amount less than the 196,293 kg of western sand whiting
Yellowfin whiting
The yellowfin whiting, Sillago schomburgkii, is a species of inshore marine fish in the smelt-whiting family Sillaginidae...
taken in the same period.
Being that the juveniles enter mangrove
Mangrove
Mangroves are various kinds of trees up to medium height and shrubs that grow in saline coastal sediment habitats in the tropics and subtropics – mainly between latitudes N and S...
creeks, the species may be a future candidate for estuarine
Estuary
An estuary is a partly enclosed coastal body of water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea....
aquaculture
Aquaculture
Aquaculture, also known as aquafarming, is the farming of aquatic organisms such as fish, crustaceans, molluscs and aquatic plants. Aquaculture involves cultivating freshwater and saltwater populations under controlled conditions, and can be contrasted with commercial fishing, which is the...
, which has seen other species of sillaginid
Sillaginidae
The Sillaginidae, commonly known as the smelt-whitings, whitings, sillaginids, sand borers and sand-smelts, are a family of benthic coastal marine fishes in the order Perciformes. The smelt-whitings inhabit a wide region covering much of the Indo-Pacific, from the west coast of Africa east to Japan...
cultured in Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
.
The species is a common target for recreational fishermen
Angling
Angling is a method of fishing by means of an "angle" . The hook is usually attached to a fishing line and the line is often attached to a fishing rod. Fishing rods are usually fitted with a fishing reel that functions as a mechanism for storing, retrieving and paying out the line. The hook itself...
, with large catches possible. Golden lined whiting respond to bait which resembles their normal prey and are taken on yabbies
Bass yabby
Trypaea australiensis is a common species of mud shrimp in south-eastern Australia, the only species in the genus Trypaea. T. australiensis is a popular bait used live or frozen by Australians targeting a range of species...
, crabs, soldier crab
Soldier crab
Soldier crab is a term used in different parts of the world for different crustaceans:*Pagurus bernhardus, a European hermit crab*Coenobita clypeatus, a Caribbean hermit crab*Dotilla myctiroides, a true crab from South-east Asia...
s, mussel
Mussel
The common name mussel is used for members of several families of clams or bivalvia mollusca, from saltwater and freshwater habitats. These groups have in common a shell whose outline is elongated and asymmetrical compared with other edible clams, which are often more or less rounded or oval.The...
s of many different sorts, worm
Worm
The term worm refers to an obsolete taxon used by Carolus Linnaeus and Jean-Baptiste Lamarck for all non-arthropod invertebrate animals, and stems from the Old English word wyrm. Currently it is used to describe many different distantly-related animals that typically have a long cylindrical...
s and prawn
Prawn
Prawns are decapod crustaceans of the sub-order Dendrobranchiata. There are 540 extant species, in seven families, and a fossil record extending back to the Devonian...
, in particular jelly prawn. This species will also take a variety of wet flies
Artificial fly
An artificial fly or fly lure is a type of fishing lure, usually used in the sport of fly fishing . In general, artificial flies are the bait which fly fishers present to their target species of fish while fly fishing...
and small lure
Lure
Lure can refer to:* Lure * Lure coursing, a sport for dogs that involves chasing a mechanically operated lure* Fishing lure* Lur, an instrument found in northern Europe* Lure, Haute-Saône, a commune of the Haute-Saône département, in France...
s. They are commonly caught over their foraging habitats, particularly sand flats, tailing sand banks, shallow and deep weed
Seaweed
Seaweed is a loose, colloquial term encompassing macroscopic, multicellular, benthic marine algae. The term includes some members of the red, brown and green algae...
beds, over yabby beds, and particularly in muddy mangrove areas.
The flesh of this whiting is sweet and although slightly softer in texture than the sand whiting
Sand whiting
The sand whiting, Sillago ciliata, is a common species of coastal marine fish of the family Sillaginidae, the smelt-whitings...
, is equal to it for high eating quality.
In Queensland, the minimum size for taking golden lined whiting is 23 cm, and there is no limit the amount that can be taken.