No photo available
Common silverbiddy
Gerres oyena
Valid name (FishBase; confirmed in Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes and WoRMS, October 2026).
- English
- Common silverbiddy
- Scientific
- Gerres oyena
- Dhivehi
- Uniya
- Group
- Reef fish
- Family
- Gerreidae (mojarras)
- Maximum size
- Up to about 30 cm (total length); commonly 20 cm (FishBase); MRS 1997 gives common to 15 cm; max. 25 cm
- Depth and habitat
- Coral reefs and reef-associated habitats, recorded from 0 to 20 m; also enters brackish water
- IUCN status
- LC · Least ConcernLeast Concern (LC), assessed 2015
Description
A silvery mojarra, pale olive above, with seven or eight faint dusky bars and black tips to the spiny dorsal fin. It lives along sandy beaches, lagoons and estuaries, singly or in groups, and uses its highly protrusible mouth to pick small animals from the sand.
In the Maldives
MRS (1997) notes it is common in shallow sandy Maldivian lagoons; FishBase (Maldives) gives the general name uniya.
Sources
- fishbase.se /summary/Gerres-oyena.html
- fao.org /4/AD471E/AD471E00.htm
- commons.wikimedia.org /wiki/File:Gerres_oyena_361574457.jpg
Dhivehi name source: M.R.S. (1997) Fishes of the Maldives (FAO/BOBP MAG/21) gives 'Uniya' (Latin form). FishBase also lists 'Uniyamas' under India (Minicoy/Lakshadweep Mahl dialect); not used.