Herring Cale are common from the central coast of Western Australia, South Australia and Victoria, and up the east coast of the mainland to southern Queensland. In Tasmania, Herring Cale are usually associated with northern Tasmania and southward to Tasman Peninsula.

Herring Cale are not usually caught on a line as they feed on reefs on brown algae.

MALES: Dark, almost black with a bright blue tail-fin and snout stripes.
FEMALES: Olive brown and lightly banded with wavy blue lines on the head.
JUVENILES: Grey to brown and marked with darker brown and a white stripe along its mid-section.

Family: ODACIDAE known as rock whiting
Family member also on the REDMAP List: Rainbow Cale
Habitat: Exposed reef and kelp
Size: Up to 50 cm plus
Image: Simon Talbot
Log it: Log it if you spot it south of Tasman Peninsula.

Species names on the Redmap site are based on the Codes for Australian Aquatic Biota or CAAB (http://www.cmar.csiro.au/caab/). This is updated regularly and lists the approved common name, family, species name and more.

• Australian Marine Life: The Plants and Animals of Temperate Waters by G. J. Edgar, Revised (2008) Reed Books, Melbourne
   
• Fishes of Australia’s Southern Coast, Edited by M. Gomon. D. Bray and R. Kuiter (2008) Reed Books, Melbourne
   
• Fishes of Tasmania by P. Last, E. Scott and F. Talbot (1983). Tasmanian Fisheries Development Authority, Hobart