Jenkinsia lamprotaenia
Dwarf Herring
Collection Details
Specimens
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Records
Taxonomic Hierarchy
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes)
Clupeiformes (Herrings, Anchovies and Sardines)
Clupeidae (Herrings)
Jenkinsia
Jenkinsia lamprotaenia (Dwarf Herring)
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.)
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Characters
Body depth is 15% to 18% and head length is 25% to 27% of SL. Symphysis of upper jaw is not notched. Maxilla extends to anterior margin of eye. Teeth are present in single series in premaxilla and maxilla. No teeth are present in lower jaw and few if any are present in roof of mouth. Only one supramaxilla is present on upper posterior margin of maxilla. Suborbital bone (below eye) is longer than it is deep. Gill rakers on upper limb do not overlap those of lower limb of first arch. Gill rakers on lower limb of first arch number 20 to 26. Isthmus has blunt shoulders. Vertical anterior edge of shoulder girdle lacks bilobed dermal fold. Pectoral fin has 12 to 15 rays. Dorsal fin originates nearer to tip of snout than to base of caudal fin, has slightly convex dorsal margin, and has 9 to 13 rays, the last of which is not produced. Pelvic fin inserts slightly closer to caudal fin base than to tip of snout, and has 8 rays. Anal fin has 13 to 16 rays. Scales are deciduous and in 33 to 37 transverse series. Scales along dorsal midline anterior to dorsal fin are normal. Belly lacks scutes except for W-shaped pelvic scute. Vertebrae number 40 to 43.
Color is greenish dorsally, with distinct silvery band laterally, and white ventrally. Silver band is equal in width to eye diameter. Dark spots are present on and above silvery band, on back, on snout, and along base of anal fin.
Distribution
Western North Atlantic off Bermuda and from south Florida to Venezuela, including the Gulf of Mexico, the Bahamas, and the Antilles.
Habitat Associations
Inshore species, also common in bays and estuaries
Biology
Food consists of zooplankton
Maximum known size is 75 mm TL
A schooling species usually occurring inshore. Feeds on zooplankton. Preyed upon by many larger fishes and squids (Ref. 5521). Important as live bait for scombrids (Ref. 26340). In 1937, at Kingston, Jamaica it spawns during the winter months. Travels long distance (Ref. 37032).
IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern (LC), assessed 2019-11-04. Resilience: High (tm<1; K>0.3).
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
Hildebrand 1963d
Bohlke and Chaplin 1968
Hoese and Moore 1977
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.
Lieske, E. and R. Myers (1994) Collins Pocket Guide. Coral reef fishes. Indo-Pacific & Caribbean including the Red Sea. Haper Collins Publishers, 400 p.
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.
Bigelow, H.B., M.G. Bradbury, J.R. Dymond, J.R. Greeley, S.F. Hildebrand, G.W. Mead, R.R. Miller, L.R. Rivas, W.L. Schroeder, R.D. Suttkus and V.D. Vladykov (1963) Fishes of the western North Atlantic. Part three. New Haven, Sears Found. Mar. Res., Yale Univ.
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