Sardina pilchardus (Walbaum, 1792)

European pilchard

Catalog of Fishes (gen., sp.) | ITIS | CoL

Classification	Actinopterygii \| Clupeiformes \| Clupeidae
Synonyms	Clupea harengus pilchardus, Alosa pilchardus, Clupea pilchardus, ... more
Common names	Sardine commune, Sardina europea, True sardine, ... more

You can sponsor this page

Upload your photos and videos
| All pictures | Google image | Stamps |

Image of Sardina pilchardus (European pilchard)

Picture by Dammous, S.

Play video

Add your observation in Fish Watcher

| Native range | PointMap |

AquaMaps Data sources: GBIF OBIS

Main reference

Whitehead, P.J.P. 1985. (Ref. 188)
Other references | Biblio | Coordinator | Collaborators

Size / Weight / Age

Max length : 27.5 cm SL male/unsexed; (Ref. 74552); common length : 20.0 cm SL male/unsexed; (Ref. 188); max. reported age: 15 years (Ref. 35388)

Environment

Pelagic-neritic; oceanodromous (Ref. 51243); freshwater; brackish; marine; depth range 10 - 100 m (Ref. 5286), usually 25 - 100 m (Ref. 54866)

Climate / Range

Subtropical; 68°N - 14°N, 32°W - 43°E (Ref. 54866)

Northeast Atlantic: Iceland (rare) and North Sea, southward to Bay de Gorée, Senegal. Mediterranean (common in the western part and in Adriatic Sea, rare in the eastern part), Sea of Marmara and Black Sea.
Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Introductions

Short description

Dorsal spines (total): 0; Dorsal soft rays (total): 13 - 21; Anal spines: 0; Anal soft rays: 12 - 23. Body sub-cylindrical, belly rather rounded (but more compressed in juveniles). Hind margin of gill opening smoothly rounded (without fleshy outgrowths) ; 3 to 5 distinct body striae radiating downward on lower part of operculum; lower gill rakers not becoming shorter at angle of first gill arch, the upper series not overlapping the lower. Last 2 anal fin rays enlarged.

Littoral species (Ref. 6808). Form schools, usually at depths of 25 to 55 or even 100 m by day, rising to 10 to 35 m at night. Feed mainly on planktonic crustaceans, also on larger organisms. Spawn in batches (Ref. 51846), in the open sea or near the coast, producing 50,000-60,000 eggs with a mean diameter of 1.5 mm (Ref. 35388). Marketed fresh, frozen or canned. Also utilized dried or salted and smoked; can be pan-fried, broiled and microwaved (Ref. 9988).


IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 57073)	Threat to humans
Not Evaluated	Harmless

Human uses
Fisheries: highly commercial


More information
Countries FAO areas Ecosystems Occurrences Introductions Ecology Diet Food items Food consumption Ration	Common names Synonyms Metabolism Predators Ecotoxicology Reproduction Maturity Spawning Eggs Egg development	Age/Size Growth Length-weight Length-length Length-frequencies Morphometrics Morphology Larvae Larval dynamics Recruitment	Other references Biblio Aquaculture Aquaculture profile Strains Genetics Allele frequencies Heritability Diseases Processing	Collaborators Pictures Stamps Sounds Ciguatera Speed Swim. type Gill area Otoliths Brains Vision

Tools
Biogeographic modelling \| E-book \| Field guide \| Identification keys \| Length-frequency wizard \| Life-history tool \| Point map

Special reports
Check for Aquarium maintenance \| Check for Species Fact Sheets \| Check for Aquaculture Fact Sheets

Download XML
Summary page \| Point data \| Common names \| Photos

Internet sources

Estimation of some characteristics with mathematical models

Resilience (Ref. 69278)

Medium, minimum population doubling time 1.4 - 4.4 years (K=0.23-0.5; tm=1-2; tmax=15)


Vulnerability (Ref. 59153)	Price category (Ref. 80766)
Moderate vulnerability (36 of 100)	Low

Entered by Binohlan, Crispina B.

Modified by Kesner-Reyes, Kathleen

Back to Search

Fish Forum

Comments & Corrections

Sign our Guest Book

FishBase mirror site : US - CGNET

Page last modified by : elaxamana, 15 July 2009

Custom Search