form schools of varying sizes, occasionally schooling with other species, including other members of the family Sillaginidae. Adults tend to be solitary and found in deeper water in a range of habitats including bays, offshore surf gutters, broken bottom and deep reef, also venturing into shallower water on occasion. Biology Diet The King George whiting's distinctive body shape and mouth placement is an adaptation to bottom feeding, which is the predominant method of feeding for all whiting species. All larger whiting feed by using their protrusile jaws and tube-like mouths to suck up various types of prey from in, on or above the ocean substrate. There is a large body of evidence that shows whiting do not rely on visual cues when feeding, instead using a system based on the vibrations emitted by their prey. Studies of gut content have shown that the primary food items of King George whiting are amphipods, copepods and polychaete worms. Unlike any of its relatives, the King George whiting does not appear to feed on molluscs, which is unusual because in many parts of Southern Australia, the main bait used by recreational fishers to catch whiting is the cockle; a mollusc, but then, it has been deshelled. An excellent bait for catching King George Whiting is raw king prawn, such as banana prawn. They are better bought in the shell and peeled shortly before using, as this keeps the bait fresh. Also rare in the diet are echinoderms, which are frequent prey for other species of Sillago. This may be a function of niche partitioning, as in many areas the King George whiting's habitat overlaps with other species of the genus Sillago. Other minor components of the diet include crustaceans such as carids, leptostracans, stomatopods, crabs, tanaids, cumaceans and isopods as well as other fish and benthic algae. As previously mentioned, younger fish tend to school when foraging, and have been known to forage in groups with other species such as silver trevally, tarwhine and other species of whiting. Larger fish tend to occupy areas with larger species such as Australasian snapper, blue morwong and larger trevally. Predators King George whiting, especially juveniles, are known to be common prey for a number of larger inshore fishes and wading birds. The most prominent inshore predators are Australian salmon, members of the flathead family, the barracouta (a snake mackerel), snook as well as various species of