Harengula clupeola
False Pilchard
Collection Details
Specimens
Photos
There are no photos available for this taxon yet.
Records
Taxonomic Hierarchy
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes)
Clupeiformes (Herrings, Anchovies and Sardines)
Clupeidae (Herrings)
Harengula
Harengula clupeola (False Pilchard)
Description
This species account was compiled from
Composite (multiple sources) (McEachran, J.D. and J.D. Fechhelm. Fishes of the Gulf of Mexico. University of Texas Press, Austin.)
and processed using AI-assisted text extraction.
It may contain errors in spelling, punctuation, or formatting.
When citing, please reference the original source rather than this page.
Learn more about our species accounts.
Characters
Body compressed and moderately deep bodied; moderate-sized terminal mouth; deeply forked caudal fin; body depth 26% to 31% and head length 27% to 33% of SL; symphysis of upper jaw not notched; maxilla extends slightly posterior to anterior margin of eye; pointed teeth absent on palatine; small bone (hypomaxilla) bearing teeth present in upper jaw between premaxilla and maxilla; suborbital bone longer than deep; gill rakers on upper limb do not overlap those of lower limb of first arch; 28 to 35 gill rakers on lower limb of first arch; vertical anterior edge of shoulder girdle with bilobed dermal fold; dorsal fin originates nearer to tip of snout than to base of caudal fin, has slightly concave dorsal margin, and 17 to 20 rays; pelvic fin inserts nearer to insertion of pectoral fin than to origin of anal fin, and has 7 to 9 rays; anal fin has 17 to 19 rays; scales adherent and in 40 to 43 transverse rows; 11 to 14 scales along dorsal margin anterior to dorsal fin; belly has 29 to 32 scutes with ascending arms
Dark brownish or greenish gray with silver overtones dorsally and silver laterally and ventrally; faint yellow to orange spot posterior to upper opercular margin; distinct dark spot in shoulder region behind opercular spot
Distribution
Western Atlantic from Florida Keys, Bahamas, and Antilles to northern Brazil, including Gulf of Mexico
Habitat Associations
Coastal and shallow bays; rare or absent in northern Gulf of Mexico
Biology
Zooplankton
172 mm TL
Occurs in coastal waters, estuaries and lagoons, tolerating low salinities. Can tolerate a broad range of salinity levels (Ref. 26938). Forms schools, small individuals often along sandy beaches. Its flesh has an unpleasant odor. Utilized as fishmeal (Ref. 5217).
IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern (LC), assessed 2012-08-23. Resilience: High (Preliminary K or Fecundity.).
Phylogeny and Morphologically Similar Fishes
Distinguished from other species of the family by the combination of characters described
Commercial or Environmental Importance
Fisheries: minor commercial.
References
Gunter 1945
Rivas 1963
Bohlke and Chaplin 1968
Castro-Aguirre and Marquez-Espinoza 1981
Whitehead 1985
C. R. Robins et al. 1986
Boschung 1992
Randall, J.E. (1967) Food habits of reef fishes of the West Indies. Stud. Trop. Oceanogr. Miami 5:665-847.
Whitehead, P.J.P. (1985) FAO Species Catalogue. Vol. 7. Clupeoid fishes of the world (suborder Clupeoidei). An annotated and illustrated catalogue of the herrings, sardines, pilchards, sprats, shads, anchovies and wolf-herrings. FAO Fish. Synop. 125(7/1):1-303. Rome: FAO.
Sierra, L.M., R. Claro and O.A. Popova (1994) Alimentacion y relaciones tróficas. p. 263-284. In Rodolfo Claro (ed.) Ecología de los Peces Marinos de Cuba. Instituto de Oceanología Academia de Ciencias de Cuba and Centro de Investigaciones de Quintana Roo, Mexico.
Smith, C.L. (1997) National Audubon Society field guide to tropical marine fishes of the Caribbean, the Gulf of Mexico, Florida, the Bahamas, and Bermuda. Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., New York. 720 p.
da Costa, M.R., R.d.A. Tubino and C. Monteiro-Neto (2018) Length-based estimates of growth parameters and mortality rates of fish populations from a coastal zone in the southeastern Brazil. Zoologia (Curitiba) 35:e22235. DOI: 10.3897/zoologia.35.e22235
Comments On Harengula clupeola