Indian oil sardine (Sardinella longiceps)

Scientific name: Sardinella longiceps Valenciennes, 1847

Indian oil sardine (Sardinella longiceps)

The Indian oil sardine (Sardinella longiceps) is a marine fish of the family Clupeidae.

Biology

Forms schools in coastal waters and strongly migratory. Feeds mainly on phytoplankton (especially diatoms) and small crustaceans. Breeds once a year off western coasts of India when temperatures and salinity are low during the southwest monsoon months. Spawning peaks in August-September. Occurs at temperatures of 22.0-28.0 ?C. Marketed fresh, dried and dried-salted. Also sold smoked and canned. Also made into fish meal and fish balls.

Source: FishBase, licensed CC BY-NC 4.0.

Species facts

Scientific name
Sardinella longiceps
Family
Clupeidae (Herrings, shads and sardines)
Order
Clupeiformes (Herrings)
Class
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned fishes)
Maximum length
23.0
Common length
20.0
Depth range
20–200 m (66–656 ft)
Environment
Marine; pelagic-neritic; oceanodromous; depth range 20 - 200 m
Climate
Tropical
Distribution
Indian Ocean: northern and western parts only, Gulf of Aden, Gulf of Oman, but apparently not Red Sea or the Persian Gulf, eastward to southern part of India, on eastern coast to Andhra; possibly to the Andaman Islands. Thus, studies pertaining to this species from the Philippines or Indonesia probably refer to Sardinella lemuru.
Conservation status (IUCN)
Least Concern (LC)
Threat to humans
Harmless
Uses
Fisheries: highly commercial
Resilience
High, minimum population doubling time less than 15 months (K=0.5-1.4; tm=2; tmax=3)

Sources

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

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