Relevant synonyms None Misidentification None Meristic formula D, 17-19; A, 18-20; P, 14-16; V, 8;  photo : D.Golani

SHORT DESCRIPTION Body elongate and compress, its depth 24-30% in SL. Head (21-25% in SL) with pointed snout and small mouth, with minute teeth on the lower jaw. Series of 32 scutes along the belly. 9-13 striae on fronto-parietal on top of the head. Triangular dorsal fin in middle of body. Anal fin base long with short rays. Forked caudal fin, its middle rays ca. 53% of its length. Pectoral rays in ventral position. Pelvic fin under dorsal fin. Number of gill rakers increases with size, for specimens larger than 150 mm SL, 24-34 on the upper arm of the first gill arch and 46-67 on the lower arm. color : Back silvery-gray to metallic blue. Light-gray to white belly. Some fresh specimens have yellow longitudinal line size : common 12-15 cm (max. 17 cm) DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERISTICS Sardinella maderensis – 77-166 gill rakers on the lower arm of the first gill arch (for specimens larger than 150 mm SL). Sardinella aurita – Body depth less than 23 % of SL. Allosa spp. – has distinct median notch in upper jaw. Herklotichthys punctatus – The lower oart of supramaxilla is much larger than the upper part. Dussumieria elopsoides, Etrumeus golanii and Spratelloides delicatulus – no scutes on the belly. BIOLOGY / ECOLOGY Schooling migratory species. Feeds on zooplankton, mainly copepods and occasionally on phytoplankton habitat : inshore pelagic

1st MEDITERRANEAN RECORD Israel (2008). DISTRIBUTION Worldwide :Red Sea, Indian Ocean to Indonesia, Taiwan and Korea. Mediterranean : Israel ESTABLISHMENT SUCCESS Reported only from Israel but possibly also in other countries, since it may be confused with Sardinella maderensis.   MODE OF INTRODUCTION Via the Suez Canal IMPORTANCE TO HUMANS In the Mediterranean it may caught with trammel net and purse seine with other clupeids. A commercial species in its original distribution.

KEY REFERENCES Stern, N., Rinkevich, B. and Goren, M. 2015. First record of the Goldstripe sardinell – Sardinella gibbosa (Bleeker, 1849) in the Mediterranean Sea and confirmation for its presence in the Red Sea. BioInvasions 4: 1, 47-51 Whitehead, P.J.P., 1985. Clupeoid fishes of the world (suborder Clupeoiei) Part 1- Chirocentridae, Clupeidae and Prisigasteridae. FAO Species Catalogue. FAO, UN, Rome. X+303 pp. FEEDBACK / COMMENTS TO AUTHORS

Last update of the species sheet : January 2017 © ciesm 2001