Grunion bluish-green backs and silvery sides and bellies. Their snouts are bluntly rounded and slippery. Silversides differ from true smelts of the family Osmeridae in that they lack the trout-like adipose fin. Young grunion grow rapidly and are about five inches long by the time they reach one year old and are ready to spawn. Adult fish normally range in size from with a maximum recorded size of (La Jolla, Ca., 05-11-05). Average body lengths for males and females are , respectively, at the end of one year; at the end of two years; and at the end of three years.
Creature of statute them may not term them as creatures of statute. Australia also uses the term "creature of statute" to describe some governmental bodies. The importance of a corporate body, regardless of its exact function, when such a body is a creature of statute is that its active functions can only be within the scope detailed by the statute which created that corporation. Thereby, the creature of statute is the tangible manifestation of the functions or work described by a given statute. The jurisdiction of a body that is a creature of statute is also therefore limited to the functional scope written