Annotated Bibliography of the Silverbellies (Pisces: Family Leiognathidae)

Abstract

Fishes of the family Leiognathidae, popularly called silverbellies, ponyfishes, slipmouths and toothponies are small to medium sized fishes living at the bottom in shallow coastal waters. They are widely distributed in the Indo-Pacific region. These fishes are captured in several types of fishing gear including bottom trawls, shore seines, gillnets, bagnets etc. Some species occur in dense schools offering great potentialities for commercial exploitation, especially along the coasts of India and Sri Lanka. A few species enter brackishwaters and estuaries. Being small and scanty of flesh, they are consumed very little in fresh condition but mostly sun dried or salt cured. As such they are an important source of food and fish meal.