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Silver Biddy
Gerres subfasciatus Cuvier, 1830
A Silver Biddy at a depth of 4m, harbour entrance, Nambucca Heads, New South Wales, April 2000. View larger image.
A Silver Biddy from the Australian Museum Fish Collection (AMS I.15907-008). Note the mouth which protrudes out and down forming a tube. View larger image.
The Silver Biddy has a silver coloured body and highly protrusible jaws. The dorsal fin is long based. Its anterior spines are black-tipped and are longer than those in the rest of the fin.
Like all fishes in the family Gerreidae, the jaws are highly protrusible. Both jaws can protrude out and down forming a tube. This adaptation to the mouth is used when the fish feeds on bottom-dwelling invertebrates.
The Silver Biddy grows to 20cm in length. It lives in estuaries and on coastal reefs. It is usually observed in schools over sandy bottoms.
Another species of Silver Biddy occurs in southern Australian waters - the Melbourne Silver Biddy Parequula melbournensis. This species is distinguishable from the Silver Biddy by its long-based anal fin and by the dorsal fin which is not elevated anteriorly.
View a map of the collecting localities of specimens in the Australian Museum Fish Collection.
Further reading
- Hutchins, B. & R. Swainston. 1986. Sea Fishes of Southern Australia. Complete Field Guide for Anglers and Divers. Swainston Publishing. Pp. 180. (as Roach)
- Kuiter, R.H. 1996. Guide to Sea Fishes of Australia. New Holland. Pp. 433.
- Kuiter, R.H. 2000. Coastal Fishes of South-eastern Australia. Gary Allen. Pp. 437.
- Yearsley, G.K., Last, P.R. & R.D. Ward. 1999. Australian Seafood Handbook, an identification guide to domestic species. CSIRO Marine Research. Pp. 461.
