 The family comprises only five genera and 35 species, of which a number are dubious, with the last major revision of the family in 1992 unable to confirm the validity of a number of species.They are elongated, slightly compressed fish, often light brown to silver in colour, with a variety of markings and patterns on their upper bodies.The Sillaginidae are not related to a number of fishes commonly called 'whiting' in the Northern Hemisphere, including the fish originally called whiting, "Merlangius merlangus".