A number of

Actinopterygii Actinopterygii (; ), members of which are known as ray-finned fishes, is a class of bony fish. They comprise over 50% of living vertebrate species. The ray-finned fishes are so called because their fins are webs of skin supported by bony or h ...

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 ...

have been given the common name whiting.

Gadiformes (cod-like)

* The fish originally known by the name "whiting" in English is ''

Merlangius merlangus ''Merlangius merlangus'', commonly known as Whiting or merling, is an important food fish in the eastern North Atlantic Ocean and the northern Mediterranean, western Baltic, and Black Sea. In Anglophonic countries outside the Whiting's natural ...

'', in the family

Gadidae The Gadidae are a family of marine fish, included in the order Gadiformes, known as the cods, codfishes, or true cods. It contains several commercially important fishes, including the cod, haddock, whiting, and pollock. Most gadid species are ...

. This species inhabits the eastern

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

and the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ea ...

, as well as the North Sea on the East Coast of Britain. In the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, it is commonly known as the English whiting. * In

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, it is used for the

Alaska pollock The Alaska pollock or walleye pollock (''Gadus chalcogrammus'') is a marine fish species of the cod genus ''Gadus'' and family Gadidae. It is a semi-pelagic Shoaling and schooling, schooling fish widely distributed in the North Pacific Ocean, N ...

, ''Theragra chalcogramma''. * In the Southern Ocean, it is used for the

southern blue whiting The southern blue whiting (''Micromesistius australis'') is a codfish of the genus '' Micromesistius'', found in the southern oceans with temperatures between 3 and 7 °C, at depths of 50 to 900 m. Its length is commonly between 30 and 60&nb ...

. * In the US, the name whiting on its own is often used for various species of

hake The term hake refers to fish in the: * Family Merlucciidae of northern and southern oceans * Family Phycidae (sometimes considered the subfamily Phycinae in the family Gadidae) of the northern oceans Hake Hake is in the same taxonomic order (Gad ...

in the genus ''

Merluccius ''Merluccius'' is a genus of merluccid hakes from the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, where mainly found relatively deep. The generic name is derived from French ''mer'' ("sea") and Latin ''lucius'', " pike." Species The 14 recognized species in th ...

''.

Sciaenidae

* Species ''

Menticirrhus americanus ''Menticirrhus americanus'', the southern kingfish, southern kingcroaker, king whiting, Carolina whiting, sea mullet, roundhead, or whiting, is a species of marine fish in the family Sciaenidae. It lives in shallow coastal waters on the western ...

'' (also known as the Carolina whiting, king whiting, sea mullet, southern kingcroaker, and southern kingfish) found along the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts of the United States.

Smelt-whitings

* In

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

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 ...

, and throughout the Indo-Pacific, the name whiting is used for fish in the family Sillaginidae. (Well-known members include

Japanese whiting The Japanese whiting, ''Sillago japonica'', (also known as the Japanese sillago or Shiro-gisu) is a common species of coastal marine fish belonging to the smelt-whiting family, Sillaginidae. As suggested by its name, the Japanese whiting was fir ...

King George whiting The King George whiting (''Sillaginodes punctatus''), also known as the spotted whiting or spotted sillago, is a coastal marine fish of the smelt-whitings family Sillaginidae. The King George whiting is endemic to Australia, inhabiting the s ...

northern whiting 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 sillagin ...

, sand whiting, and school whiting.)

References

{{Animal common name Fish common names Gadidae da:Hvilling de:Wittling is:Lýsa nl:Wijting no:Hvitting pl:Witlinek sv:Vitling tr:Mezgit