Anchovy sprat, ''Clupeonella engrauliformis'', is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

fish Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Approximately 95% of ...

in the

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

Clupeidae Clupeidae is a family of ray-finned fishes, comprising, for instance, the herrings, shads, sardines, hilsa, and menhadens. The clupeoids include many of the most important food fishes in the world, and are also commonly caught for productio ...

. It is one of the several species of ''

Clupeonella ''Clupeonella'' is a genus of fish in the family Clupeidae. They are widespread in the fresh and brackish waters of the Caspian Sea and Black drainages. Species * ''Clupeonella abrau'' (Maliatsky, 1930) (Abrau sprat) * ''Clupeonella caspia'' S ...

'' found in the

Caspian Sea The Caspian Sea is the world's largest inland body of water, often described as the world's largest lake or a full-fledged sea. An endorheic basin, it lies between Europe and Asia; east of the Caucasus, west of the broad steppe of Central Asia ...

It lives

pelagic The pelagic zone consists of the water column of the open ocean, and can be further divided into regions by depth (as illustrated on the right). The word ''pelagic'' is derived . The pelagic zone can be thought of as an imaginary cylinder or w ...

ally in the central and southern parts of this brackishwater lake. It is typically 12 cm long, and up to 16.5 cm maximum. May be found down to 78 m depth.

References

Clupeonella Fish of the Caspian Sea Fish described in 1904 {{Clupeiformes-stub