West African pygmy herring (Sierrathrissa leonensis)

Scientific name: Sierrathrissa leonensis Thys van den Audenaerde, 1969

West African pygmy herring (Sierrathrissa leonensis)

The West African pygmy herring (Sierrathrissa leonensis) is a freshwater fish of the family Clupeidae.

Biology

Occurs in rivers but also in man-made lakes. Schools in open shallow waters, rising to about 30 cm at night in Lake Volta. Feeds on plankton, especially cladocerans.

Source: FishBase, licensed CC BY-NC 4.0.

Species facts

Scientific name
Sierrathrissa leonensis
Family
Clupeidae (Herrings, shads and sardines)
Order
Clupeiformes (Herrings)
Class
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned fishes)
Maximum length
3.0
Common length
2.3
Depth range
0–8 m (0–26 ft)
Environment
Freshwater; pelagic; depth range 0 - 8 m
Climate
Tropical
Distribution
Africa: Senegal to Cameroon, apparently in both lower and upper reaches of rivers, but the latter only confirmed in the case of the Niger; also the man-made lakes Kainji (Nigeria) and Volta (Ghana).
Conservation status (IUCN)
Least Concern (LC)
Threat to humans
Harmless
Uses
Fisheries: commercial
Resilience
High, minimum population doubling time less than 15 months (tm

Sources

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

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