Sardine and pilchard are common names for various species of small, oily forage fish in the herring family Clupeidae. The term sardine was first used in English during the early 15th century; a somewhat dubious folk etymology says it comes from the Italian island of Sardinia, around which sardines were once supposedly abundant.
The Laccadive Sea, also known as the Lakshadweep Sea, is a body of water bordering India, the Maldives, and Sri Lanka. It is located to the southwest of Karnataka, to the west of Kerala and to the south of Tamil Nadu. This warm sea has a stable water temperature through the year and is rich in marine life, the Gulf of Mannar alone hosting about 3,600 species. Mangaluru, Kasaragod, Kannur, Kozhikode, Ponnani, Kochi, Alappuzha, Kollam, Thiruvananthapuram, Tuticorin, Colombo, and Malé are the major cities on the shore of the Laccadive Sea. Kanyakumari, the southernmost tip of peninsular India, also borders this sea.
The European sprat, also known as bristling, brisling, garvie, garvock, Russian sardine, russlet, skipper or whitebait, is a species of small marine fish in the herring family Clupeidae. Found in European waters, it has silver grey scales and white-grey flesh. Specific seas in which the species occurs include the Irish Sea, Black Sea, Baltic Sea and Sea of the Hebrides. The fish is the subject of fisheries, particularly in Scandinavia, and is made into fish meal, as well as being used for human consumption. When used for food it can be canned, salted, breaded, fried, boiled, grilled, baked, deep fried, marinated, broiled, and smoked.
The scaled sardine, Harengula jaguana, is a herring-like fish in the family Clupeidae. It is native to coastal waters of the western Atlantic Ocean, from the Gulf of Mexico down to Brazil where it is called mata.
Sardinops is a monotypic genus of sardines of the family Clupeidae. The only member of the genus is Sardinops sagax. It is found in the Indo-Pacific and East Pacific oceans. Its length is up to 40 cm (16 in). It has numerous common or vernacular names, some of which more appropriately refer to subspecies, including blue pilchard, Australian pilchard, blue-bait, Californian pilchard, Peruvian Pacific sardine, South American pilchard, Chilean sardine, Japanese pilchard, Pacific sardine, and Southern African pilchard.
Sardinella is a genus of fish in the family Dorosomatidae found in the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Ocean. They are abundant in warmer waters of the tropical and subtropical oceans. Adults are generally coastal, schooling, marine fish but juveniles are often found in lagoons and estuaries. These species are distinguished by their ranges and by specific body features, but they are often confused with one another. Fish of the genus have seven to 14 striped markings along the scales of the top of the head. The paddle-shaped supramaxilla bones are characteristic; they separate Sardinella from other genera and their shapes help distinguish species. They have paired predorsal scales and enlarged fin rays.
M. J. S. Wijeyaratne is a Sri Lankan academic. He was the Vice-Chancellor of University of Kelaniya and Professor of Zoology.
Sardinella richardsoni is a species of ray-finned fish in the genus Sardinella from the South China Sea in the northwest Pacific.
Sardinella zunasi is a species of ray-finned fish in the family Clupeidae, the herrings and sardines. It is native to the northwestern Pacific Ocean, where it occurs near shore along the Asian coastlines from southern Japan to Taiwan.
The European pilchard is a species of ray-finned fish in the monotypic genus Sardina. The young of the species are among the many fish that are sometimes called sardines. This common species is found in the northeast Atlantic, the Mediterranean, and the Black Sea at depths of 10–100 m (33–328 ft). It reaches up to 27.5 cm (10.8 in) in length and mostly feeds on planktonic crustaceans. This schooling species is a batch spawner where each female lays 50,000–60,000 eggs.
Amblygaster is a small genus of sardinellas in the herring family Dorosomatidae. It currently contains three species.
Sardinella tawilis is a freshwater sardine found exclusively in the Philippines. It is the only member of the genus Sardinella known to exist entirely in fresh water. Locally, they are known in Filipino as tawilis.
The Alosidae, or the shads, are a family of clupeiform fishes. The family currently comprises four genera worldwide, and about 34 species.
Amblygaster clupeoides, the bleeker smoothbelly sardinella, blue pilchard, sharp-nosed pilchard, or sharpnose sardine, is a reef-associated marine species of sardinellas in the herring family Clupeidae. It is one of the three species of genus Amblygaster.
Amblygaster leiogaster, the smoothbelly sardinella, also known as blue sardine, blue sprat, bluebait, is a reef-associated marine species of sardinella in the herring family Clupeidae. It is one of the three species of genus Amblygaster. It is found in the marine waters along Indo-West Pacific regions towards south western Australia. The fish has 13 to 21 dorsal soft rays and 12 to 23 anal soft rays. It grows up to a maximum length of 23 cm. The flank is gold in fresh fish but becomes black while preservation. Belly is more rounded and scutes are not prominent. It is rather closely resemble Amblygaster clupeoides, but the latter has very few lower gill rakers than Smoothbelly sardinella. The fish feeds on minute organisms like zooplankton.
Thryssa gautamiensis, the gautama thryssa, is a species of amphidromous ray-finned fish in the family Engraulidae.
Anodontostoma chacunda or Chacunda gizzard shad is a small species of gizzard shad found in both fresh and marine waters. The fish is from the family Clupeidae.
Stolephorus brachycephalus, the broadhead anchovy, is a species of ray-finned fish in the family Engraulidae. It is found in the Western Central Pacific Ocean.
Stolephorus multibranchus, the Caroline anchovy, is a species of ray-finned fish in the family Engraulidae. It is found in the Western Central Pacific Ocean.
