Club-foot whiting

The club-foot whiting (Sillaginopodys chondropus), also known as the club-foot sillago or thicken-spined sillago, the only member of the monospecific genus Sillaginopodys, is a coastal marine fish of the smelt whiting family Sillaginidae that inhabits a wide range including west Africa, India and the northern Indonesian Archipelago. The species is unique in the morphology of the pelvic spine and fin, making identification of the species easier than most of its relatives. The species is of minor commercial importance, taken by seine net and marketed fresh throughout its range.

The club-foot whiting was first described and named by Pieter Bleeker in 1849, however the exact origin of the holotype specimen is unknown. Bleeker conducted most of his studies on the fishes of South East Asia, and one author has attributed the type specimen to samples collected from the Java Sea. The common name of the species, club-foot whiting, is derived from its unique pelvic fin structure which may look, and possibly act as club shaped 'foot'. The other common name; Horrelvoet sillago, is a name used in Africa and is derived from Afrikaans.