Fish
Silver Sillago
Sillago sihama
A slim, pale sandy-bottom fish of surf zones and estuaries, common along the warmer KZN and Eastern Cape coast.
Also known as sand smelt, sillago, silver sillago whiting, silver whiting, swallowtail
- Typical size
- Commonly 20-30 cm
- Habitat
- Sandy surf zones, bays and estuaries
- Depth
- Shallows to about 20 m
The silver sillago, or silver whiting, is a small, cylindrical, tapering fish with a pointed snout and a pale, sandy-silver body that often carries a faint silvery stripe along the flank. Its cryptic colouring blends perfectly with the sand it lives over.
It frequents shallow sandy bottoms in surf zones, bays and estuaries along the subtropical coast, often in schools, using its small mouth to root out worms, small crustaceans and molluscs from the sand. Fast to bury or dart away when disturbed, it is a popular light-tackle bait and table fish.