Slender body, long nose and tapered tail. The base colour ranges from green to green-brown, and bright blue lines are present during the breeding season. A false eyespot is sometimes present on the tail.
Slender body, long nose and tapered tail. The base colour ranges from green to green-brown, and bright blue lines are present during the breeding season. ... source:
Reef Life Survey
The Pencil Weed Whiting is a small, slender, green to brown fish with a long snout. Females have a white-margined spot on the caudal fin. Males have two blue lines on the sides of the body. source: Australian Museum Factsheets
| RLS profile v3 | |
| Description: | Slender body, long nose and tapered tail. The base colour ranges from green to green-brown, and bright blue lines are present during the breeding season. A false eyespot is sometimes present on the tail. |
| Habitat: | Rocky reef and seagrass |
| Invasive: | Not known to be invasive |
| IUCN_Threat_status: | Least Concern |
| similar_species: | Similar to other members of the genus. Most similar to S. caninis, but has less stocky body and lacks the 3-pronged appearance of the tail. Tail is most similar to S. attenuatus, but S. beddomei has longer snout. |
| Behaviour: | Forms loose schools that slowly cruise just above, or hover over depressions in the algal canopy. Combined with their body colouration which is similar to the algae, their behaviour makes them easily overlooked by divers. |
| Depth: | 1-15 m |
| Commercial_Uses: | None, other than trivial captures for aquarium trade |
| Threats: | No major threats to this species are known |
| Max_size: | 140 mm |
| Diet: | Benthic invertebrates |
| Life_History: | Little known about life history |
| Abundance: | 18.386 |
| Frequency: | 5.540 |
| Range: | 1191.161 |
| Distribution: | Southern and south-western Australia |
| Common_Name: | Pencil weed whiting;Pigmy rock whiting |
| Accepted name | Source |
|---|---|
| Siphonognathus beddomei |
| Synonyms | Source |
|---|---|
| Odax beddomei Johnston, 1885 | |
| Published in: Johnston, R.M. 1885. Description of a new species of Odax. Pap. Proc. R. Soc. Tas. Vol. 1884 pp. 231-232 | |
| Common name | Source |
|---|---|
| Pencil Weed Whiting | |
| Long-nose Weed Whiting | |
| Beddome's Rock Whiting | |
| Pygmy Rock Whiting | |
| Pygmy Whiting | |
| Slender Weed Whiting |
View list of all occurrence records for this taxon
