The European pilchard (''Sardina pilchardus'') 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 ...
of
ray-finned fish
Actinopterygii (; ), members of which are known as ray-finned fishes, is a class of bony fish. They comprise over 50% of living vertebrate species.
The ray-finned fishes are so called because their fins are webs of skin supported by bony or h ...
in the
monotypic
In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispe ...
genus
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...
''Sardina''. The young of the species are among the many fish that are sometimes called
sardines
"Sardine" and "pilchard" are common names for various species of small, oily forage fish in the herring family Clupeidae. The term "sardine" was first used in English during the early 15th century, a folk etymology says it comes from the Ital ...
.
This common species is found in the northeast Atlantic, the Mediterranean
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western Europe, Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa ...
, and the Black Sea
The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, Rom ...
at depths of . It reaches up to in length and mostly feeds on plankton
Plankton are the diverse collection of organisms found in water (or air) that are unable to propel themselves against a current (or wind). The individual organisms constituting plankton are called plankters. In the ocean, they provide a crucia ...
ic crustacean
Crustaceans (Crustacea, ) form a large, diverse arthropod taxon which includes such animals as decapods, seed shrimp, branchiopods, fish lice, krill, remipedes, isopods, barnacles, copepods, amphipods and mantis shrimp. The crustacean group can ...
s. This schooling
A school is an educational institution designed to provide learning spaces and learning environments for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is sometimes compuls ...
species is a batch spawner where each female lays 50,000–60,000 eggs.[
]
Description
The European pilchard is a small to medium-sized, somewhat elongated, herring-like fish. The origin of the pelvic fins is well behind that of the dorsal fin, and the last two soft rays on the anal fin are larger than the remainder. The upper parts are green or olive, the flanks are golden and the belly is silvery.
Distribution and habitat
The European pilchard occurs in the northeastern Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...
, the Mediterranean Sea
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ...
and the Black Sea
The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, Rom ...
. Its range extends from Iceland and the southern part of Norway and Sweden southwards to Senegal in West Africa. In the Mediterranean Sea it is common in the western half and the Adriatic Sea
The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Sea) to t ...
, but uncommon in the eastern half and the Black Sea. It is a migratory, schooling
A school is an educational institution designed to provide learning spaces and learning environments for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is sometimes compuls ...
, largely coastal species but sometimes travels as far as out to sea. During the day it is mostly in the depth range but can go as deep as . At night it is generally from beneath the surface.
Ecology
In the Mediterranean, the European pilchard moves offshore in the autumn, preferring the deeper cooler waters and constant salinity out at sea to the variable temperatures and salinities of inshore waters. Spawning starts to take place in winter, and in early spring, juveniles, larvae and some adults move towards the coast, while other adults migrate inshore later in the year. Multiple batches of eggs are produced over a long breeding period, total fecundity
Fecundity is defined in two ways; in human demography, it is the potential for reproduction of a recorded population as opposed to a sole organism, while in population biology, it is considered similar to fertility, the natural capability to pr ...
being 50,000 to 60,000. Most juveniles become sexually mature at about a year old and a length of ; pilchards are fully grown at about when aged about eight years.[
The diet consists of both ]zooplankton
Zooplankton are the animal component of the planktonic community ("zoo" comes from the Greek word for ''animal''). Plankton are aquatic organisms that are unable to swim effectively against currents, and consequently drift or are carried along by ...
and phytoplankton. The zooplankton is largely copepods and their larvae, which make daily vertical migrations to feed near the surface at night, and this is when the adult pilchards feed on them; juveniles feed during the day as well.[ Along with the European anchovy (''Engraulis encrasicolus''), the European pilchard plays an important intermediate role in the Mediterranean ecosystem as a consumer of ]plankton
Plankton are the diverse collection of organisms found in water (or air) that are unable to propel themselves against a current (or wind). The individual organisms constituting plankton are called plankters. In the ocean, they provide a crucia ...
and as a food for larger demersal predators such as the European hake
''Merluccius merluccius'', the European hake, is a merluccid hake of the genus ''Merluccius''. Other vernacular names include Cornish salmon and herring hake. It is a predatory species which was often netted alongside one of its favoured prey, th ...
(''Merluccius merluccius'') and the European conger eel (''Conger conger''). This role is particularly noticeable in the Adriatic Sea
The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Sea) to t ...
where the water is shallow, the food chain is shorter and energy is retained within the basin; overfishing of pilchard and anchovy can thus cause dramatic changes in the ecosystem.
Fisheries and uses
There are important fisheries for this species in most of its range. It is mainly caught with purse seine
Seine fishing (or seine-haul fishing; ) is a method of fishing that employs a surrounding net, called a seine, that hangs vertically in the water with its bottom edge held down by weights and its top edge buoyed by floats. Seine nets can be de ...
s and lampara net
A lampara net is a type of fishing net. It is a surrounding net having the shape of a spoon or a dustpan with a short leadline under a longer floatline. The net has a central bunt to contain the fish and two lateral wings. s, but other methods are also used including bottom trawling">tp://ftp.fao.org/FI/CDro ...
s, but other methods are also used including bottom trawling with high opening nets. In total, around a million tonnes are taken annually, with Morocco, Portugal and Spain having the largest catches. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) considers the Moroccan fishery overfished.