Blacktip sardinella (Sardinella melanura)

Scientific name: Sardinella melanura Cuvier, 1829

Blacktip sardinella (Sardinella melanura)

The Blacktip sardinella (Sardinella melanura) is a marine fish of the family Clupeidae.

Biology

Dorsal spines (total): 0; Dorsal soft rays (total): 13-21; Anal spines: 0; Anal soft rays: 12 - 23. Body depth usually not much more than 30% of standard length; scutes 27 to 31. The jet black caudal tips distinguish S. melanura from all other species of Sardinella except S. atricauda (scutes 32 to 35), S. hualiensis (dark spot at dorsal fin origin, scales fimbriated and with small perforations) and S. fijiense (gill rakers 87 to 134).

Source: FishBase, licensed CC BY-NC 4.0.

Species facts

Scientific name
Sardinella melanura
Family
Clupeidae (Herrings, shads and sardines)
Order
Clupeiformes (Herrings)
Class
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned fishes)
Maximum length
15.2
Common length
10.0
Depth range
0–50 m (0–164 ft)
Environment
Marine; pelagic-neritic; amphidromous; depth range 0 - 50 m
Climate
Tropical
Distribution
Indo-West Pacific: Gulf of Aden south to Madagascar and Mauritius and east to the Arabian Sea and northwestern India (apparently not found south of Bombay nor in northern Bay of Bengal); then from Indonesia (but not in South China Sea) to Samoa. Reported from the Penghu Islands.
Conservation status (IUCN)
Not Evaluated
Threat to humans
Harmless
Uses
Fisheries: minor commercial; bait: usually
Resilience
High, minimum population doubling time less than 15 months (tmax=4; k >0.7)

Sources

Taxonomy, distribution and biology data: FishBase (Froese, R. and D. Pauly, eds.), licensed CC BY-NC 4.0.

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