Teleostei (teleosts) >
Clupeiformes (Herrings) >
Dorosomatidae (Gizzard shads and sardinellas)
Etymology: Sardinella: Latin and Greek, sarda = sardine; name related to the island of Sardinia; diminutive (Ref. 45335).
Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range
Ecology
Marine; pelagic-neritic; depth range 1 - 60 m (Ref. 30573). Tropical; 7°N - 14°S, 38°E - 49°E (Ref. 188)
Western Indian Ocean: Somalia (Ref. 30573), Kenya, and Tanzania.
Size / Weight / Age
Maturity: Lm ? range ? - ? cm
Max length : 13.0 cm SL male/unsexed; (Ref. 188)
Dorsal spines (total): 0; Dorsal soft rays (total): 13 - 21; Anal spines: 0; Anal soft rays: 12 - 23. Distinguished from all other clupeids along the East African coast by its pelvic fin ray count of i 8. Very closely resembles S. longiceps, but its head shorter and lower gill rakers fewer. A faint golden spot behind gill opening, followed by a faint golden mid-lateral line; a distinct black spot at hind border of gill cover (absence of silver pigment).
Forms schools in coastal waters. Feeds presumably mainly on phytoplankton like S. longiceps and its breeding biology is perhaps similar to that species too. Apparently not abundant, occurring mostly during the northeast monsoon period (November-January).
Life cycle and mating behavior
Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae
Breeding biology is perhaps similar to S. longiceps.
Whitehead, P.J.P., 1985. FAO Species Catalogue. Vol. 7. Clupeoid fishes of the world (suborder Clupeoidei). An annotated and illustrated catalogue of the herrings, sardines, pilchards, sprats, shads, anchovies and wolf-herrings. FAO Fish. Synop. 125(7/1):1-303. Rome: FAO. (Ref. 188)
IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435: Version 2024-1)
Threat to humans
Harmless
Human uses
Fisheries: minor commercial
Tools
Special reports
Download XML
Internet sources
Estimates based on models
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref.
82804): PD
50 = 0.5000 [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00851 (0.00399 - 0.01817), b=3.05 (2.88 - 3.22), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this Genus-body shape (Ref.
93245).
Trophic level (Ref.
69278): 2.0 ±0.00 se; based on food items.
Resilience (Ref.
120179): High, minimum population doubling time less than 15 months (Preliminary K or Fecundity.).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref.
59153): Low vulnerability (10 of 100).
Nutrients (Ref.
124155): Calcium = 367 [194, 586] mg/100g; Iron = 2.31 [1.34, 4.00] mg/100g; Protein = 19.9 [18.8, 21.0] %; Omega3 = 0.275 [0.135, 0.545] g/100g; Selenium = 94 [49, 192] μg/100g; VitaminA = 29.7 [8.5, 95.9] μg/100g; Zinc = 1.8 [1.3, 2.5] mg/100g (wet weight);
