Gangetic whiting are of minor commercial importance along the Southeast coast of the Asian continent where it inhabits protected areas.

[2] The Gangetic whiting was originally named Cheilodipterus panijus in 1822 by Francis Buchanan-Hamilton from a holotype taken from the Ganges estuary in India.

The species was further examined by Gill in 1861 in the first review of the family, entitled "Synopsis of the Sillaginoids", which led to the creation of the genus Sillaginopsis.

[5] Another unique feature of this species is its severe reduction or even absence of a swim bladder, which all other members of the family Sillaginidae possess.

Otolith and size-age composition studies by Krishnayya (1963) of the commercial catches from the Hooghly River estuary and found that S. panijus probably spawns twice a year during the periods of November to February and August to September.