Trumpeter whiting
Sillago maculata
Illustration: Bloom by Day
A small sandy whiting blotched irregularly along the side, with a golden stripe and a dark spot at the base of each yellow pectoral fin. It feeds in loose groups on open sand near estuary mouths and moves off a few metres at a time as you approach.
how to recognise it
- irregular dark brown blotches along the side
- a golden-silvery stripe down the middle of the side
- about five rows of brownish-green spots on the soft dorsal fin
- a distinct blackish-blue spot at the base of the yellow pectoral fin
- sandy-brown to olive-green or grey above, whitish below
don’t confuse with
- Sand whiting — the sand whiting is uniformly silvery with NO bars or blotches at all
- Goldenline whiting — the goldenline whiting has a clean golden stripe below the lateral line and no blotches
- Northern whiting — the northern whiting has no blotches along the side and no spot at the pectoral base
Field marks read from Fishes of Australia, 2026-10-15. Our wording, their facts. Max size 30 cm TL.
facts
- habitat
- sand
- size
- ~22 cm, to 30 cm
Max size from Fishes of Australia (30 cm TL); the typical size is Bluebird’s, not from a cited source
- records near here
- 1 at 1 of 6 spots
A count of occurrence records near these spots, not abundance. Records are where someone looked.
when it has been recorded
JFMAMJJASOND
A gap means no record in the sample, not absence.
the rule
QLD — None · Limit: 50
source
· verified 2026-10-10
no NSW rule listed — check before you dive
no closed season recorded for this species — that is not the same as open; check the official page
Rules checked 2026-10-13 against qld.gov.au
Rules change. Check before you dive.
Occurrence data: Atlas of Living Australia (ala.org.au), CC-BY 4.0.
Diver transect counts: Reef Life Survey (reeflifesurvey.com), CC-BY 4.0, supplied via ALA.
Target and protected species: Queensland tidal-water size and possession limits (qld.gov.au) and NSW saltwater bag and size limits plus threatened species lists (dpird.nsw.gov.au).
Habitat and size: Bluebird, approximate, from general knowledge. Not cited. FishBase is CC BY-NC and this app is commercial, so it is not used.
Description written for Bloom. RECORDS ARE WHERE SOMEONE LOOKED, NOT WHERE THE FISH ARE. A record count is a count of records near here and nothing else -- it is not abundance, and a species with few records is not rare. Absence of records is not absence of fish.
Diver transect counts: Reef Life Survey (reeflifesurvey.com), CC-BY 4.0, supplied via ALA.
Target and protected species: Queensland tidal-water size and possession limits (qld.gov.au) and NSW saltwater bag and size limits plus threatened species lists (dpird.nsw.gov.au).
Habitat and size: Bluebird, approximate, from general knowledge. Not cited. FishBase is CC BY-NC and this app is commercial, so it is not used.
Description written for Bloom. RECORDS ARE WHERE SOMEONE LOOKED, NOT WHERE THE FISH ARE. A record count is a count of records near here and nothing else -- it is not abundance, and a species with few records is not rare. Absence of records is not absence of fish.