The small-scale whiting (''Sillago parvisquamis'') (also known as the blue whiting), is a 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 Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing 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. Approximately 95% of li ...

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 ...

. The small-scale whiting is very similar in body shape and colour to other species in the genus '' Sillago'', but is distinguished by having 12 or 13 spines in the first

dorsal fin A dorsal fin is a fin located on the back of most marine and freshwater vertebrates within various taxa of the animal kingdom. Many species of animals possessing dorsal fins are not particularly closely related to each other, though through conv ...

compared to 11 in all other species. The species is distributed through parts of the west

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

including

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...

and

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, inhabiting the tidal flats of major

estuaries An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime environment ...

. It is a benthic predator taking

crustacean Crustaceans (Crustacea, ) form a large, diverse arthropod taxon which includes such animals as decapods, seed shrimp, branchiopods, fish lice, krill, remipedes, isopods, barnacles, copepods, amphipods and mantis shrimp. The crustacean group ...

mollusc Mollusca is the second-largest phylum of invertebrate animals after the Arthropoda, the members of which are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 85,000 extant species of molluscs are recognized. The number of fossil species is esti ...

s and

annelid The annelids (Annelida , from Latin ', "little ring"), also known as the segmented worms, are a large phylum, with over 22,000 extant species including ragworms, earthworms, and leeches. The species exist in and have adapted to various ecol ...

s. Spawning in the species takes place from May to September, with peaks identified in June and July. The eggs and larvae have been extensively studied in order to distinguish them from the more abundant ''

Sillago sihama The northern whiting (''Sillago sihama''), also known as the silver whiting and sand smelt, is a marine fish, the most widespread and abundant member of the smelt-whiting family Sillaginidae. The northern whiting was the first species of sillagi ...

''. Minor

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 ...

exist for the small-scale whiting, although it is thought be

endangered An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching and inva ...

by habitat loss and pollution

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...

Taxonomy and naming

The small-scale whiting is a member of the

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

'' Sillago'', which contain 29 other species. It is part of the family

which is a division of the Percoidei, a

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 ...

of the Perciformes. The species was first scientifically described by

Theodore Gill Theodore Nicholas Gill (March 21, 1837 – September 25, 1914) was an American ichthyologist, mammalogist, malacologist and librarian. Career Born and educated in New York City under private tutors, Gill early showed interest in natural histor ...

in 1861 in the first review of the sillaginid fishes; "Synopsis of the Sillaginoids". The type specimen was taken from the waters of Kanagawa, near

Yokohama is the second-largest city in Japan by population and the most populous municipality of Japan. It is the capital city and the most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a 2020 population of 3.8 million. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of To ...

. There has only been one formal misidentification, made by Peter Forsskål in 1913 when he mistook the species for ''

''. The name "small-scale whiting" is in reference to the species' smaller than average scales amongst the genus ''Sillago''.

Description

The small-scale whiting is very similar in external appearance to many other members of the genus ''Sillago'', which have a slightly compressed, elongate body tapering toward the terminal mouth. The

is in two parts, the first made of feeble spines and the second of

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 ...

headed by a single feeble spine. The first dorsal fin has either 12 or 13 dorsal spines, a feature unique among ''Sillago'' which otherwise have 11 dorsal spines. The second dorsal fin has a single spine followed by 20 to 22 soft rays, while the anal fin has 2 spines and 22 or 24 soft rays. Other distinguishing features include 79 to 84

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 ...

scales and 39 to 40

vertebrae The spinal column, a defining synapomorphy shared by nearly all vertebrates,Hagfish are believed to have secondarily lost their spinal column is a moderately flexible series of vertebrae (singular vertebra), each constituting a characteristic i ...

, while the swimbladder morphology also is a highly distinguishing feature. The maximum known size of the species is 30 cm. The swimbladder has two

anterior Standard anatomical terms of location are used to unambiguously describe the anatomy of animals, including humans. The terms, typically derived from Latin or Greek roots, describe something in its standard anatomical position. This position prov ...

extensions that arise medially, diverge and terminate. Two lateral extensions appear anteriorally, each with a blind tubule which curves to the abdominal walls and becomes a complex network of blind tubules. There are two posterior tapering extensions that project into and terminate into the

caudal Caudal may refer to: Anatomy * Caudal (anatomical term) (from Latin ''cauda''; tail), used to describe how close something is to the trailing end of an organism * Caudal artery, the portion of the dorsal aorta of a vertebrate that passes into the ...

region. A duct like process is present from the lateral surface to the urogenital opening. This configuration is very similar to ''S. sihama'', except that the lateral tubules are more complex than in ''S. sihama''. The small-scale whiting is a pale brown to dull brown colour above and lighter below with a faint mid-lateral band normally present. The fins are all

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 ...

in appearance except for the dorsal fin which becomes dusky terminally with 5 or 6 rows of dusky spots on the soft dorsal fin membrane.

Distribution and habitat

The small-scale whiting occupies a fairly restricted range in the northwest

consisting of southern

and

. In Japan the species is known from the southern half of the island chain below

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

in the west and

in the east. The species is rare in both Korea and India, with only a single reported capture of the species in these countries. The species inhabits waters from 0 to 30 m in depth, often found on well developed tidal flats in the

of large rivers. The

larva A larva (; plural larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle. The ...

e and juveniles of the species commonly inhabit these environments also, with juveniles often inhabiting the shallowest parts of the tidal flats.

Biology

Like other sillaginids, ''S. parvisquamis'' is a

benthic The benthic zone is the ecological region at the lowest level of a body of water such as an ocean, lake, or stream, including the sediment surface and some sub-surface layers. The name comes from ancient Greek, βένθος (bénthos), meaning "t ...

predator Predation is a biological interaction where one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation (which usually do not kill th ...

and is known to consume a variety of

s and

worms. Studies in the Buzen Sea of Japan have found the small-scale whiting

spawn Spawn or spawning may refer to: * Spawn (biology), the eggs and sperm of aquatic animals Arts, entertainment, and media * Spawn (character), a fictional character in the comic series of the same name and in the associated franchise ** '' Spawn: Ar ...

s from May to July, while laboratory studies have similarly found that spawning occurs from May to September with a peak from June to July. Laboratory conditions also showed that spawning occurs at night predominantly between 20:30 and 22:00 hours. The eggs are buoyant and spherical in shape with an average

diameter In geometry, a diameter of a circle is any straight line segment that passes through the center of the circle and whose endpoints lie on the circle. It can also be defined as the longest chord of the circle. Both definitions are also valid for ...

of 0.71 mm and are transparent and colourless. Larval and juvenile development has been extensively described by Imoto and Matsui (2000), with a number of characteristics including higher numbers of myomeres and melanophores on the dorsal surface of the body as well as a lack of a vertical band of melanophores on the caudal peduncle distinguishing the larvae from those of ''S. japonica''. Modelling based on growth observations in the species suggests the female starts life smaller than the male but grows faster and is larger than the male within two years. The models put forward by Imoto ''et al.'' in 1997 also suggest that the male reaches a maximum of 288 mm while the female reaches 332 mm, assuming their life span is long enough for these theoretical maxima to be reached.

Relationship to humans

Like many species of ''Sillago'' in the

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

n region, ''S. parvisquamis'' is commonly taken in seines from

beach A beach is a landform alongside a body of water which consists of loose particles. The particles composing a beach are typically made from rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles, etc., or biological sources, such as mollusc shel ...

es and estuaries but often suffers the same fate of other lesser known sillaginids in being confused with ''S. sihama''. This identification issue, as well as the fact that

statistics Statistics (from German language, German: ''wikt:Statistik#German, Statistik'', "description of a State (polity), state, a country") is the discipline that concerns the collection, organization, analysis, interpretation, and presentation of ...

are poor or non-existent in such countries means catch statistics are not available. In a 1984 review of the Japanese sillaginids, Sano and Mochizuchi described the species as being

due to

habitat destruction Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss and habitat reduction) is the process by which a natural habitat becomes incapable of supporting its native species. The organisms that previously inhabited the site are displaced or dead, thereby ...

and

pollution Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into the natural environment that cause adverse change. Pollution can take the form of any substance (solid, liquid, or gas) or energy (such as radioactivity, heat, sound, or light). Pollutants, the ...

, a statement echoed in a number of other papers since, although the

does not recognise the species as being in danger. The discovery of the species in Korea in 1996 suggests its range may be greater than previously supposed, and thus less in danger of

extinction Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and ...

than proposed by Sano and Mochizuchi. The flesh is held in high regard in Japan, but is still considered inferior to that of ''S. japonica''. For this reason, McKay proposed in 1992 that the species is possibly a candidate for

aquaculture Aquaculture (less commonly spelled aquiculture), also known as aquafarming, is the controlled cultivation ("farming") of aquatic organisms such as fish, crustaceans, mollusks, algae and other organisms of value such as aquatic plants (e.g. lot ...

, although such a move has not yet been made.

References

External links

Small-scale whiting at fishbaseColour photographs ''S. parvisquamis''
{{Authority control Sillaginidae Taxa named by Theodore Gill Fish described in 1861