Teleostei (teleosts) >
Eupercaria/misc (Various families in series Eupercaria) >
Nemipteridae (Threadfin breams, Whiptail breams)
Etymology: Scaevius: Latin, scaeva = the wrong way, clumsy.
Eponymy: Baron Pierre Bernard Milius (1773–1829) was a French naval officer, naturalist and civil servant who took part in an exploratory voyage (1804) of the Mascarene Islands, Indian Ocean, under Nicolas Baudin, during which he became friends with Bory. [...] (Ref. 128868), visit book page.
Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range
Ecology
Marine; reef-associated; depth range 1 - 20 m (Ref. 9785). Tropical; 7°S - 30°S, 109°E - 141°E (Ref. 3810)
Western Pacific: northwestern Australia from Gulf of Carpentaria to Abrolhos Islands. Also known from Papua New Guinea (Ref. 6192). This species has been commonly referred to as Scaevius nicanor Whitley, but Scaevius milii is the older name.
Size / Weight / Age
Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 20.0 cm SL male/unsexed; (Ref. 3810); common length : 15.0 cm SL male/unsexed; (Ref. 3810)
Dorsal spines (total): 10; Dorsal soft rays (total): 9; Anal spines: 3; Anal soft rays: 7. Scales on top of head not reaching to level of eyes. Snout, suborbital, interorbital, and temporal parts of head naked. Posterior margin of suborbital denticulate, a small spine in upper corner. 5 or 6 transverse rows of cheek scales. Preopercle serrate, opercle scaly. Lower limb of preopercle naked. Upper margin of opercle with a small, flat, rounded spine. Pectoral fins short, not reaching to level of anus. Pelvic fins long, reaching to level of anus. Color: Dark olive on top of head, back paler, ventral surface white. 2 blue stripes on snout, the first joining eyes through nostrils, the second across front of snout. 2 narrow blue lines below eye crossing suborbital.
Abundant on shallow inshore reefs and adjacent sand or mud bottoms. Feeds on small fishes and benthic invertebrates. Unimportant as a food fish. No major fishery exists.
Life cycle and mating behavior
Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae
Russell, B.C., 1990. FAO Species Catalogue. Vol. 12. Nemipterid fishes of the world. (Threadfin breams, whiptail breams, monocle breams, dwarf monocle breams, and coral breams). Family Nemipteridae. An annotated and illustrated catalogue of nemipterid species known to date. FAO Fish. Synop. 125(12):149p. Rome: FAO. (Ref. 3810)
IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435: Version 2024-1)
Threat to humans
Harmless
Human uses
Fisheries: minor commercial
Tools
Special reports
Download XML
Internet sources
Estimates based on models
Preferred temperature (Ref.
123201): 26.7 - 28.7, mean 28.3 °C (based on 282 cells).
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref.
82804): PD
50 = 1.0000 [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.01445 (0.00683 - 0.03057), b=2.98 (2.81 - 3.15), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this (Sub)family-body shape (Ref.
93245).
Trophic level (Ref.
69278): 4.0 ±0.63 se; based on food items.
Resilience (Ref.
120179): High, minimum population doubling time less than 15 months (Preliminary K or Fecundity.).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref.
59153): Low vulnerability (14 of 100).
Nutrients (Ref.
124155): Calcium = 70 [43, 149] mg/100g; Iron = 0.684 [0.321, 1.703] mg/100g; Protein = 19.2 [17.3, 20.9] %; Omega3 = 0.155 [0.090, 0.265] g/100g; Selenium = 22.6 [12.4, 42.8] μg/100g; VitaminA = 100 [27, 309] μg/100g; Zinc = 1.31 [0.88, 1.93] mg/100g (wet weight);