Estuarine Round-herring
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''Gilchristella aestuaria'', the Gilchrist's round herring or estuarine round-herring, is a member of the herring family Clupeidae that occurs off the coasts of Southern Africa. It is the only species in its genus, which was named for John Dow Fisher Gilchrist (1866–1926).


Information

There are no indications of major threats to this species. It is considered to be of least concern for becoming an endangered species.


Size

The average length of the ''G. aestuaria'' as an unsexed male is about ten centimeters.


Habitat

The ''Gilchristella aestuaria'' can be found in a marine environment and in freshwater. The habitat is located in subtropical climates. This species is primarily found in estuaries, lagoons, lakes, and rivers. It is considered an extremely important fish in estuaries of South Africa . This small sardine-like fish lives in large shoals and provides an important link in the food chain as a food source to larger fish and water birds. This fish does not survive in an
aquarium An aquarium (plural: ''aquariums'' or ''aquaria'') is a vivarium of any size having at least one transparent side in which aquatic plants or animals are kept and displayed. Fishkeepers use aquaria to keep fish, invertebrates, amphibians, aq ...
, presumably dying from capture
myopathy In medicine, myopathy is a disease of the muscle in which the muscle fibers do not function properly. This results in muscular weakness. ''Myopathy'' means muscle disease (Greek : myo- ''muscle'' + patheia '' -pathy'' : ''suffering''). This meani ...
or stress.


Distribution

The Gilchristella aestuaria is distributed throughout the following areas: *Africa *Lake Piti *Mozambique *Southern African coast *Saldanha Bay *Orange River *Namibia *South Africa *Eastern Cape Province *KwaZulu-Natal *Northern Cape Province


References


External links

* Gilchrist's round herring Marine fish of Southern Africa Gilchrist's round herring Taxa named by John Dow Fisher Gilchrist Monotypic fish genera Monotypic marine fish genera Monotypic ray-finned fish genera {{Clupeiformes-stub