The Araucanian herring (''Strangomera bentincki'' or ''Clupea bentincki'') is a fish species in the family

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 production of ...

. It is an

epipelagic fish Pelagic fish live in the pelagic zone of ocean or lake waters—being neither close to the bottom nor near the shore—in contrast with demersal fish that do live on or near the bottom, and reef fish that are associated with coral reefs ...

, silvery below and dark blue above, which

schools 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 compulsor ...

coastal waters The coast, also known as the coastline or seashore, is defined as the area where land meets the ocean, or as a line that forms the boundary between the land and the coastline. The Earth has around of coastline. Coasts are important zones in n ...

off the west coast of South America. It ranges along the

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

an coast from Valparaiso south to

Talcahuano Talcahuano () (From Mapudungun ''Tralkawenu'', "Thundering Sky") is a port city and commune in the Biobío Region of Chile. It is part of the Greater Concepción conurbation. Talcahuano is located in the south of the Central Zone of Chile. Geo ...

. It schools at depths from 0 to 70 meters in nearshore areas. There it filter feeds on smaller

plankton Plankton are the diverse collection of organisms found in Hydrosphere, water (or atmosphere, air) that are unable to propel themselves against a Ocean current, current (or wind). The individual organisms constituting plankton are called plankt ...

such as

diatom A diatom (Neo-Latin ''diatoma''), "a cutting through, a severance", from el, διάτομος, diátomos, "cut in half, divided equally" from el, διατέμνω, diatémno, "to cut in twain". is any member of a large group comprising sev ...

s. It reaches sexual maturity when it is about 10 centimetres long, and is a pelagic spawner, spawning between June and November. It grows to a maximum standard length of 15 cm.

Fisheries

The Araucanian herring is a commercial species, largely used for

fishmeal Fish meal is a commercial product made from whole wild-caught fish, bycatch and fish by-products to feed farm animals, e.g., pigs, poultry, and farmed fish.R. D. Miles and F. A. Chapman.FA122: The Benefits of Fish Meal in Aquaculture DietsFisherie ...

. Based on the

FAO The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)french: link=no, Organisation des Nations unies pour l'alimentation et l'agriculture; it, Organizzazione delle Nazioni Unite per l'Alimentazione e l'Agricoltura is an intern ...

fishery statistics, it was the 12th most important capture fish species in 2009. All reported landings are from Chile. Fisheries capture of Clupea bentincki

References

Literature

* * * Whitehead PJP, Nelson GJ and Wongratana T (1988) FAO species catalogue, volume 7
''Clupeoid Fishes of the World (Suborder Clupeoidei)''
FAO Fisheries Synopsis 125, Rome.
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Page 130–131. {{DEFAULTSORT:herring, Araucanian

Araucanian herring The Araucanian herring (''Strangomera bentincki'' or ''Clupea bentincki'') is a fish species in the family Clupeidae. It is an epipelagic fish, silvery below and dark blue above, which schools in coastal waters off the west coast of South America ...

Western South American coastal fauna Commercial fish

Taxa named by John Roxborough Norman Endemic fauna of Chile Fauna of Temperate South America