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Dietary analysis was conducted on juveniles of 10 numerically abundant fish species inhabiting tropical seagrass beds in North Queensland, Australia. Gammarid amphipods were consumed by all of the species, but their contribution to the diet of each varied. Crab larvae and copepods contributed to the diets of Leiognathus bindus, Pranesus endrachtensis and Stolephorus sp.; polychaetes and isopods were consumed by Sillago maculata burrus, Lethrinus sp., Pelates sexlineatus and Siganus canaliculatus; and Favonigobius reichei, Coris caudimacula and Arothron manilensis fed on bivalves. Seagrass and gastropods were rarely ingested by most of these fishes, but made a moderate contribution to the diet of A. manilensis. With the exception of L. bindus, the diet of each species was correlated with size: smaller species consumed copepods, crab larvae and gammarid amphipods, while larger species ate polychaetes, bivalves, isopods and gastropods. Non-metric multidimensional scaling (MDS) ordination plots emphasised the...

The status of Sillago erythraea Cuvier in Cuvier and Valenciennes 1829 is re-examined. A lectotype designation by McKay in 1985 fixes it as a junior synonym of Sillago sihama (Forsskal in Niebuhr, 1775), which is restricted to the southern Red Sea. Northern Red Sea populations previously assigned to S. sihama or S. erythraea, are here described as Sillago suezensis sp. nov. Sillago suezensis is also distributed in the eastern Mediterranean Sea due to Lessepsian immigration through the Suez Canal. The new species is characterized within the Sillago sihama group, which has the swimbladder divided posteriorly into two tapering extensions projecting below the vertebral column extending into the tail musculature, by the absence of scales on the preopercle and on most of the opercle, a total number of 34 vertebrae, the swimbladder with lateral extensions each spreading a blind tubule anterolaterally, and a low position of the nostril.http://www.zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:B289CDF4-AE82-44D3-9AE1-4A2B51...

Seven specimens (106–180 mm in standard length) of the sand whiting Sillago caudicula Kaga, Imamura & Nakaya, 2010 previously known only from the type specimens from Oman, were collected from the southeast coast of Madagascar. These new specimens represent the first record of the species from Madagascar and the southern hemisphere. Comparisons in meristic and morphometric characters with the four type specimens from Oman, as well as with the five other species in the subgenus Sillago, allowed their clear identification using the following combination of characters: small head (28.6–30.1% SL), 35–36 total vertebrae, fused or narrowly separated first and second hypurals, fused third and fourth hypurals, and 9–11 dusky spots on midline of body.

The augmentation of traditional taxonomy by the addition of genetic methods, particularly DNA analysis, has revealed that many species that appeared identical morphologically throughout their distribution range are actually divided into two or more genetically distinct species. The whiting, Sillago sihama, is a fish that was considered to be of a wide Indo-Pacific distribution. Not long ago, what was considered to be S. sihama invaded the Mediterranean from the Red Sea via the Suez Canal. In our study we sequenced a 655-bp region of the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I gene (COI) from Hong Kong, southern Red Sea and Mediterranean populations of Sillago. We discovered that the first two (HK and southern Red Sea) are genetically similar while the sequencing of the Mediterranean population shows a significant divergence, confirming the existence of two distinct species. We further sequenced a segment of 178 bp (of the 655 bp) from a formaldehyde-fixed specimen from the northern Red Sea (...

In the Synodontid fish Saurida undosquamis and the Sillagid Sillago sihama the diameter of the eye lens can be used for identifying first-year animals, while the eye lens weight proved unreliable for age determination.

This project aimed to measure biochemical and cytogenetic biomarkers in marine fish (Aldrichetta forsteri and Sillago schomburgkii) associated with industrial and urban centres in South Australia. These sites were Port Pirie (affected by metal-contaminated outflows), Barker Inlet (adjacent to Metropolitan Adelaide), and Wills Creek (reference site). The biochemical biomarkers included sorbitol dehydrogenase (SDH) and alanine aminotransferase (ALAT) in serum, adenylate levels (ATP, ADP and AMP) and adenylate energy charge (AEC) in gill and liver, and sodium/potassium ATPase (Na(+), K(+)-ATPase) in gill. Erythrocyte micronucleus frequency was a marker of cytogenetic effect. Serum enzyme levels were generally higher in fish from Port Pirie and Barker Inlet than in those from Wills Creek, with SDH demonstrating the clearest site-associated differences. Tissue adenylates were consistently lower at Port Pirie than elsewhere, suggesting a greater metabolic strain in fish at this site. AEC in gill and liver were consistently lower at Port Pirie than at Wills Creek, with Barker Inlet generally between these two. The reversed rank order was observed with erythrocyte micronucleus frequencies. Seasonal variations in the biomarkers may be attributed either to seasonal physiological changes in fish or changes in pollutant input levels or compositions. Na(+), K(+)-ATPase did not differ between sites nor seasons in this study. This work shows that biochemical and cytogenetic differences occur in marine fish at specific locations in South Australia. It also shows that of these tests, serum SDH and erythrocyte micronuclei are potentially the most sensitive and reliable biomarkers of pollutants effects on marine fish. The results also suggest that these data may be used as a baseline against which future changes in marine water quality, and their consequent biological effects, can be compared.

The complete mitogenome of Sillago japonica was determined through high-throughput DNA sequencing technology. The circular mtDNA molecule was 16 645 bp in size and encoded 13 protein-coding genes, 2 rRNAs, 22 tRNAs and 2 non-coding regions, with the gene arrangement and content identical to other typical vertebrate mitogenomes. The identity analysis revealed that the mitogenome sequence of S. japonica shared a relatively high sequence identity to S. asiatica (81.5%) compared with S. aeolus (77.5%), S. indica (77.1%), and S. sihama (76.3%). The neighbor-joining tree of complete mitogenome sequence showed that S. japonica firstly clustered together with S. asiatica, then grouped with S. indica and S. sihama, and finally gathered with S. aeolus. Taken together, the results absolutely supported the evolutionary position of S. japonica and provided new insights into phylogenetic relationships of Sillago.

Six species of Colobomatus, five of which are new to science, were found in a survey of 26 species of sillaginid fishes in the Indo-west Pacific. Three of the species are closely related and occur in the head cavities of various species of their hosts. Colobomatus sillaginis West, 1983 is recorded in Sillaginodes punctata and 12 species of Sillago, from around the coast of Australia and in the Gulf of Thailand, representing many new host and locality records. Female C. asiaticus sp. nov. are described from southeast Asia and the Persian Gulf, in three species of Sillago. Female C. arabicus sp. nov. are described from two species of Sillago occurring only in the Persian Gulf. A second intrageneric grouping of three species of Colobomatus inhabits a different microhabitat: tubes of the lateral line scales. Each of these species infects several sillaginid fishes, and in contrast to members of the first species-group they are entirely allopatric with each other. In Australia, female C. fulloonae sp. nov. are ...

Intusatrium berryi sp. nov. and Holorchis sprenti sp. nov. are described from the gut of Sillago ciliata, S. maculata and S. analis from Deception Bay, Queensland. Intusatrium berryi is distinguished from its congeners by egg-size, the position of the genital pore, the size of the cirrus-sac and the lobation of the gonads. Intusatrium is retained as a valid genus despite the fact that its original diagnostic character was misinterpreted. It is suggested that I. robustum and I. secundum may prove to be synonymous. Holorchis sprenti can be distinguished from its congeners by the position of the ovary near the middle of the uterine field and by its smaller size.