The silver-banded whiting, ''Sillago argentifasciata'', is a narrowly distributed species of

inshore A shore or a shoreline is the fringe of land at the edge of a large body of water, such as an ocean, sea, or lake. In physical oceanography, a shore is the wider fringe that is geologically modified by the action of the body of water past a ...

marine Marine is an adjective meaning of or pertaining to the sea or ocean. Marine or marines may refer to: Ocean * Maritime (disambiguation) * Marine art * Marine biology * Marine debris * Marine habitats * Marine life * Marine pollution Military * ...

fish of the smelt whiting family

Sillaginidae The Sillaginidae, commonly known as the smelt-whitings, whitings, sillaginids, sand borers and sand-smelts, are a family of benthic coastal marine fish in the order Perciformes. The smelt-whitings inhabit a wide region covering much of the Indo ...

that inhabits the coastline of a single province within the Philippines. The species' taxonomic status is still marginally uncertain, with the last major review of sillaginid fish by McKay proposing ''S. argentifasciata'' is a senior

synonym A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means exactly or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are all ...

of a related species, ''S. ingenuua''. The species takes its name from a brilliant silvery strip running laterally across its body.

Taxonomy and naming

The silver-banded whiting is one of 29 species of the genus '' Sillago'', one of 3 genera in the smelt-whiting family

, a division of the

suborder Order ( la, ordo) is one of the eight major hierarchical taxonomic ranks in Linnaean taxonomy. It is classified between family and class. In biological classification, the order is a taxonomic rank used in the classification of organisms and ...

Percoidei. The species was first identified and named ''Sillago argentifasciata'' by Martin and Montalban in 1935 from the holotype

specimen Specimen may refer to: Science and technology * Sample (material), a limited quantity of something which is intended to be similar to and represent a larger amount * Biological specimen or biospecimen, an organic specimen held by a biorepository ...

collected in the waters of Lumbucan Island in the Philippines. The common name 'silver-banded whiting' is derived from the

longitudinal Longitudinal is a geometric term of location which may refer to: * Longitude ** Line of longitude, also called a meridian * Longitudinal engine, an internal combustion engine in which the crankshaft is oriented along the long axis of the vehicle, ...

silver band on the side of the species. The holotype of the species was not examined by McKay in his comprehensive review of the

due to its destruction in World War II, but he proposed that the species may be a senior

of ''S. ingenuua''. However, he also noted that the species possessed a number of characters which distinguished it from its relatives and suggested further collecting was needed before the taxonomic status of the species was certain.

Description

The silver-banded whiting shows the same basic body profile as the rest of the members of the genus ''Sillago'', possessing an elongate, slightly compressed body tapering toward the terminal mouth, with two apparent dorsal fins. The species has a more curved ventral profile than most of its relatives however, and within its known range, this and the silvery band may be enough to identify it in the field. More definitive characteristics are the dorsal and

anal fin Fins are distinctive anatomical features composed of bony spines or rays protruding from the body of a fish. They are covered with skin and joined together either in a webbed fashion, as seen in most bony fish, or similar to a flipper, as se ...

s, with the first dorsal fin possessing 11 spines while the second dorsal contains one spine and 17 or 18

soft rays Fish anatomy is the study of the form or morphology of fish. It can be contrasted with fish physiology, which is the study of how the component parts of fish function together in the living fish. In practice, fish anatomy and fish physiology co ...

posterior to the spines. The anal fin has two spines followed by 17 soft rays. Like all smelt-whitings, its body is covered in ctenoid scales, with a

lateral line The lateral line, also called the lateral line organ (LLO), is a system of sensory organs found in fish, used to detect movement, vibration, and pressure gradients in the surrounding water. The sensory ability is achieved via modified epithelial ...

scale count of 66, while the cheek has three rows of scales, those on the upper row cycloid, and on the lower two rows ctenoid. The vertebrae count and

swim bladder The swim bladder, gas bladder, fish maw, or air bladder is an internal gas-filled Organ (anatomy), organ that contributes to the ability of many bony fish (but not cartilaginous fish) to control their buoyancy, and thus to stay at their curren ...

morphology for the species is currently unknown, but may be revealed by further collecting. The silver-banded whiting's name is derived from the brilliant silvery

band which runs from the base of the pectoral fin to the base of the caudal fin. The body is an overall dull silvery white, while the breast and operculum are also a silvery colour. The upper portion of each dorsal spine and ray is sparsely dotted with black, while the other fins are

hyaline A hyaline substance is one with a glassy appearance. The word is derived from el, ὑάλινος, translit=hyálinos, lit=transparent, and el, ὕαλος, translit=hýalos, lit=crystal, glass, label=none. Histopathology Hyaline cartilage is ...

Distribution and habitat

The silver-banded whiting is known only from a single island in the Western Central Pacific; Lumbucan Island in Palawan, a province of the Philippines. Nothing is known of the habitat or biology of this species, and total contribution to local

fisheries Fishery can mean either the enterprise of raising or harvesting fish and other aquatic life; or more commonly, the site where such enterprise takes place ( a.k.a. fishing ground). Commercial fisheries include wild fisheries and fish farms, both ...

is also unknown. A number of species of whiting are taken in the region as food and are commonly marketed under the title of 'asuhos', with the silver-banded whiting likely among them.

References

External links

Silver-banded whiting at Fishbase
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1951451 Sillago Taxa named by Claro Tolentino Martin Taxa named by Heraclio R. Montalban Fish described in 1935