# Mud whiting
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{{Short description|Species of fish}}
{{Speciesbox
| image = Sillago lutea.jpg
| taxon = Sillago lutea
| authority = [McKay](/source/R._J._McKay), 1985
| range_map = Sillago lutea distribution.PNG
| range_map_caption = Range of the mud whiting
}}
The '''mud whiting''' ('''''Sillago lutea'''''), or '''mud sillago''', is a species of [coastal](/source/coastal) [marine](/source/Marine_(ocean)) [fish](/source/fish) in the smelt-whiting family [Sillaginidae](/source/Sillaginidae). The mud whiting was first described in 1985 and is currently known from the north west coast of [Australia](/source/Australia) and the [India](/source/India)n coast.
As its name suggests, mud whiting prefer [mud](/source/mud)dy or [silt](/source/silt)y substrates, and are commonly found in association with the [banana prawn](/source/banana_prawn). Due to this relationship, Australian prawn [trawl](/source/trawl)ers take large quantities of the species, but it is currently not [marketed](/source/Market_(economics)).
==Taxonomy and naming==
The mud whiting is one of over 30 species in the genus ''[Sillago](/source/Sillago)'',[{{FishBase genus|genus=Sillago|month=June|year=2023}}] which is one of five genera belonging to the smelt whiting family [Sillaginidae](/source/Sillaginidae), this family was previously considered to be part of the [Percoidea](/source/Percoidea), a [suborder](/source/suborder) of the [Perciformes](/source/Perciformes).[ The 5th edition of ''[Fishes of the World](/source/Fishes_of_the_World)'' classifies the Sillaginidae in the order [Spariformes](/source/Spariformes).][{{cite book |author1=Nelson, J.S. |author1-link=Joseph S. Nelson |author2=Grande, T.C. |author3=Wilson, M.V.H. |year=2016 |title=Fishes of the World |edition=5th |publisher=[John Wiley & Sons](/source/John_Wiley_%26_Sons) |place=Hoboken, NJ |pages=502–506 |isbn=978-1-118-34233-6 |lccn=2015037522 |oclc=951899884 |ol=25909650M |doi=10.1002/9781119174844}}]
The species was [scientifically](/source/Taxonomy_(biology)) examined by Dutt and Sujatha their revision of the sillaginid fishes of [India](/source/India) and incorrectly assigned the [specimen](/source/Biological_specimen) to the preexisting species ''[Sillago macrolepis](/source/Sillago_macrolepis)''. Roland McKay reexamined the species during his revision of the Sillaginidae, determining it to be a new species and naming it ''Sillago lutea''. A specimen collected from [Exmouth Gulf](/source/Exmouth_Gulf) in [Western Australia](/source/Western_Australia) was assigned to be the [holotype](/source/holotype) for the species. The [binomial name](/source/binomial_name) of "lutea" is derived from the [Latin](/source/Latin) meaning "belonging to [mud](/source/mud)", also reflected in the [common name](/source/common_name) in reference to its preferred habitat.[{{cite journal |last=McKay |first=R.J. |year=1985 |title=A Revision of the Fishes of the Family Silaginidae |journal=Memoirs of the Queensland Museum |volume=22 |issue=1 |pages=1–73 }}]
==Description==
As with most of the genus ''Sillago'', the mud whiting has a slightly compressed, elongate body tapering toward the terminal mouth.[{{FishBase | genus = Sillago | species = lutea | year = 2007 | month = August }}] The body is covered in small [ctenoid](/source/ctenoid) [scales](/source/Scale_(zoology)) extending to the two rows of [cheek](/source/cheek) scales and head. The first [dorsal fin](/source/dorsal_fin) has 11 [spines](/source/Fish_anatomy) and the second dorsal fin has 1 leading spine with 20 to 22 soft rays posterior. The [anal fin](/source/anal_fin) is similar to the second dorsal fin, but has 2 spines with 21 to 23 soft rays posterior to the spines. Other distinguishing features include 67 to 72 [lateral line](/source/lateral_line) scales and a total of 33 to 35 [vertebrae](/source/vertebrae). The species has a known maximum length of over 16 cm.[{{cite book | last = McKay | first = R.J. | title = FAO Species Catalogue: Vol. 14. Sillaginid Fishes Of The World | publisher = Food and Agricultural Organisation | year = 1992 | url = ftp://ftp.fao.org/docrep/fao/009/t0538e/t0538e06.pdf | location = Rome | pages = 19–20 | isbn = 92-5-103123-1}}]
The [swim bladder](/source/swim_bladder) is similar to the [Japanese whiting](/source/Japanese_whiting), characterised by a short central [anterior](/source/anterior) extension with two anteriorly facing anterolateral projections, which may be well or poorly developed. There is a single median [posterior](/source/Posterior_(anatomy)) extension. The duct like process on the [ventral](/source/ventral) surface of the swim bladder is present.[{{cite journal |last=Hutchins |first=J.Barry |year= 2004 |title= Fishes of the Dampier Archipelago, Western Australia |journal= Records of the Western Australian Museum Supplement |volume= 66 |pages= 343–398 |doi=10.18195/issn.0313-122x.66.2004.343-398|doi-access=free}}] to the eastern [Gulf of Carpentaria](/source/Gulf_of_Carpentaria) and the [Arafura Sea](/source/Arafura_Sea), as well as the coasts of [India](/source/India) and [Sri Lanka](/source/Sri_Lanka).