Relevant synonyms Haregula punctata Misidentification None Meristic formula D, 14-15; A, 16-18; P, 15-16; V, 8; GR, 32-36.  photo : David Darom

SHORT DESCRIPTION Body slender and somewhat compressed. Dorsal fin base origin before midpoint. Anal fin behind dorsal fin. Series of scutes along belly. 3-6 striae on the frontoparietal on top of the head. The lower portion of the second supramaxilla much larger than the upper part. color : silvery-grey with black spots on the upper part of the back. Mostly with yellow-gold line on the flank. size : 5 - 7 cm (max. 9 cm). DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERISTICS Dussumieria elopsoides, Etrumeus teres and Spratelloides delicatulus: smooth belly without scutes. Sardina pilchardus: bony striae on the operculum. Sardinella spp.: 7-14 striae on the frontoparietal; upper and lower part of second supramaxilla equal in size. Allosa spp.: a distinct median notch in upper jaw (H. punctatus, like other clupeids genera in the region, without median notch). BIOLOGY / ECOLOGY Schooling species. Feeds on zooplankton. Eggs and larvae pelagic. habitat : inshore pelagic.

1st MEDITERRANEAN RECORD Coast of Palestine*, 1943. DISTRIBUTION Worldwide : Red Sea endemic. Mediterranean : recorded first on the coast of Palestine* (Bertin, 1943). Successive records in Lebanon (Mouneimne, 1977); Iskenderun, Turkey (Whitehead, 1984), Egypt (El Sayed, 1994). * Note: this record was later misidentified as Sardinella aurita by Ben-Tuvia (1966). ESTABLISHMENT SUCCESS Common along the eastern Levant coasts. speculated reasons for success : unknown. MODE OF INTRODUCTION Via the Suez Canal. IMPORTANCE TO HUMANS Occasionally large schools caught by purse seine mainly in the southern part of the Israeli coast. Due to its small size, commercial importance is limited.

KEY REFERENCES Ben-Tuvia A., 1976. Occurrence of Red Sea fishes Herklotsichthys punctatus, Autisthes puta and Rhonciscus stridens in the eastern Mediterranean. Israel Journal of Zoology, 25: 212-213. Bertin L., 1943. Les clupeiformes du Canal de Suez, comparés à ceux de la Mer Rouge et de la Méditerranée. Bulletin du Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle, 2e sér. 15(6): 389-391. Whitehead P.J.P., 1985. Clupeoid fishes of the world (suborder Clupeodei). Part1 - Chirocentridae, Clupeidae and Pristigasteridae. FAO Species Catalogue 7. FAO, UN, Rome. X+303 pp. FEEDBACK / COMMENTS TO AUTHORS

Last update of the species sheet: March 2001 ©ciesm 2002