The
Sillaginidae, commonly known as the
smelt-whitings,
whitings,
sillaginids,
sand borers and
sand-smelts, are a
family of
benthic coastal marine fish in the
order Perciformes. The smelt-whitings inhabit a wide region covering much of the
Indo-Pacific, from the west coast of
Africa east to
Japan and south to
Australia. The family comprises only five
genera and 35
species, of which a number are dubious, with the last major revision of the family in 1992 unable to confirm the validity of a number of species. They are elongated, slightly compressed fish, often light brown to silver in colour, with a variety of markings and patterns on their upper bodies. The Sillaginidae are not related to a number of fishes commonly called '
whiting' in the
Northern Hemisphere, including the fish originally called whiting,
Merlangius merlangus.