Haletta semifasciata (Valenciennes, 1840)
Blue weed whiting
Haletta semifasciata
photo by Yau, B.

Family:  Odacidae (Cales and weed-whitings)
Max. size:  29 cm SL (male/unsexed)
Environment:  demersal; brackish; marine; depth range 1 - 7 m
Distribution:  Eastern Indian Ocean and Southwest Pacific: southern coast of Australia, from Houtman Abrolhos, Western Australia to Sydney, New South Wales; including Tasmania.
Diagnosis:   
Biology:  Forms large schools in estuaries and other sheltered waters with sand and seagrass bottoms. Considered primarily as an opportunistic carnivore, feeding mainly on polychaetes; also gastropods, crustaceans (crab and amphipods), algae and seagrass (mostly Zostera) are common; forams, bivalves, and ophiuroids were also found in a few stomachs.
IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern (LC); Date assessed: 18 September 2009 Ref. (130435)
Threat to humans:  harmless


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