| Remarks |
Occur in coastal beaches, sandbars and surf zones as well as open bays, estuaries and coastal lakes; specimens have occasionally been taken in offshore waters to 40 m during winter. May be said to live exclusively on sandy ground. Adults gather around the mouths of estuaries, bars and pits, in depths down to 5 m. Juveniles inhabit shallow areas with some seagrass (Ref. 6205). Sand whiting forage for burrowing or benthic animals by using their conical snout to plough through sand or mud (Ref. 6390). Juveniles (1-5 cm FL) favour unvegetated, marine habitats as nursery areas (West & King, 1996) in northern New South Wales, and in Botany Bay, Zostera seagrass beds are important habitats (Ref. 6223).
Food selection changes with fish size (smaller fish eat fewer polychaetes; larger fish eat a lot of bivalves and yabbies (Ref. 6390). |