European sprat (Sprattus sprattus)

Scientific name: Sprattus sprattus Linnaeus, 1758

European sprat (Sprattus sprattus)

The European sprat (Sprattus sprattus) is a brackish-water fish of the family Clupeidae. Native range: Northeast Atlantic, North Sea and Baltic south to Morocco; also the Mediterranean, Adriatic and Black seas.

Biology

Usually inshore schooling, sometimes entering estuaries (especially the juveniles) and tolerating salinities as low as 4 ppt. Shows strong migrations between winter feeding and summer spawning grounds. Moves to the surface at night. Feeds on planktonic crustaceans. Spawns at depths of 10-20 m producing 6,000-14,000 pelagic eggs. Some spawn almost throughout the year, mainly in spring and summer, near the coast or up to 100 km out to sea, the young drifting inshore. Sold as 'brislings' to canneries. Sprat are used in the production of fish meal and as mink food, less for human consumption. Utilized fresh, smoked, canned and frozen; can be pan-fried and broiled.

Source: FishBase, licensed CC BY-NC 4.0.

Species facts

Scientific name
Sprattus sprattus
Family
Clupeidae (Herrings, shads and sardines)
Order
Clupeiformes (Herrings)
Class
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned fishes)
Maximum length
16.0
Common length
12.0
Depth range
10–150 m (33–492 ft)
Environment
Marine; brackish; pelagic-neritic; oceanodromous; depth range 10 - 150 m
Climate
Temperate
Distribution
Northeast Atlantic: North Sea and Baltic south to Morocco; also the Mediterranean, Adriatic and Black seas.
Conservation status (IUCN)
Not Evaluated
Threat to humans
Reports of ciguatera poisoning
Uses
Fisheries: highly commercial; bait: usually
Resilience
High, minimum population doubling time less than 15 months (rm=1.7; K=0.13-0.77; tm=1-2; tmax=6; Fec=2,000 (batch fec))

Sources

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

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