species| Whiting |
 WHITING | Upper jaw slightly projecting beyond lower one. Eye diameter shorter than snout. A barbel on chin, minute, obsolete or absent. Sensory canals with large pores on head. Coronal fossa on frontals closed in front of commissure between supraorbital canals. The first anal fin is long, its base a little shorter than preanal distance and its origin usually below middle of first dorsal fin base. Anal fins usually in contact, dorsal with interspaces. Lateral line not continuous behind end of third dorsal fin base. A dark spot on pectoral fin base. SIZE | Whiting can grow to become 70 cm, usually 30-40 cm; Smaller in Black Sea, to 58 cm, usually 15-20 cm. DEPTH | Shallow water, rarely below 200 meters, usualy 30-100 meters, over sandy or muddy ground, young live closer to the shore, 5-30 meters. COLOUR | Variable, yellowish-brown, dark blue or green, sides yellowish-grey, white and silvery on belly. CHARACTERISTICS | The dark spot on pectoral fin base. Upper jaw slightly protruding beyond lower one. Eye diameter shorter than snout. A barbel on shin, minute, obsolete or absent. Sensory canals with large pores on head. FOOD | Crustaceans and fishes, proportion of fishes increasing with age. REPRODUCTION | From January in the south to July in the north, throughout range. WHERE TO CATCH IT | European coasts from Iceland and southwestern Barents Sea to northern coasts of Portugal, western Baltic to Gotland Island, doubtful in western Mediterranean. Black Sea, adjacent parts of Azov Sea of Marmora, Aegean Sea and Adriatic. |
