Tarwhine

Rhabdosargus sarba has a deep and compressed body, the body has a depth which fits into its standard length 2 to 2.3 times. with a large head. The dorsal profile is convex, most strongly arched between the snout and the origin of the dorsal fin. The moderately sized eyes are relatively smaller in adults. There are 11 spine and 12 or 13 soft rays supporting the dorsal fin while the anal fin is supported by 3 spines and 11 soft rays. The largest molar-like teeth are those at the rear of the third outer row. The overall colour of this fish is greyish with a silvery-gold hue, the ventral surface is silvery-white, and there are thin yellowish to golden horizontal stripes along the flanks. The pelvic and anal fins yellowish to brownish-yellow in colour. This species has a maximum published total length of 80 cm (31 in), although 45 cm (18 in) is more typical, and a maximum published weight of 12 kg (26 lb).

Rhabdosargus sarba has a wide Indo-Pacific distribution from the Red Sea and the eastern coast of Africa as far south as the southern coast of South Africa east across the Indian Ocean and into the Pacific Ocean as far as the South China Sea and Japan and south to Australia. In Australia it is found along the Western Australian coast from Bremer Bay to Exmouth and along the east coast between Townsville, Queensland south to Mallacoota, Victoria. There is a single records from the Mediterranean off Syria, and this is thought likely to have been a Lessepsian migrant from the Red Sea through the Suez Canal. The tarwhine is found at depths between 0 and 60 m (0 and 197 ft), juveniles and young fishes are found in estuaries but the adults move out to deeper coastal waters.

Rhabdosargus sarba belongs to the genus Rhabdosargus, a name which is a refixes rhabdos, meaning "stick" or "rod", an allusion to the yellow abdominal band of Sargus auriventris, its type species, to Sargos, a name used for Sparid fish in ancient Greek at least as long ago as Aristotle but in this case is a reference to Sargus as a synonym of Diplodus. The specific name, sarba, is the Arabic name for this species in the Red Sea of Saudi Arabia.