''Sardinella maderensis'' (Madeiran sardinella) is a species of small

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 genus ''

Sardinella ''Sardinella'' is a genus of fish in the family Clupeidae found in the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Ocean. They are abundant in warmer waters of the tropical and subtropical oceans. Adults are generally coastal, schooling, marine fish but juveni ...

'' which is found in the Eastern Atlantic and Southeastern Mediterranean. it is a silvery fish similar to the

round sardinella The round sardinella (''Sardinella aurita'') is a species of ray-finned fish in the genus ''Sardinella'' found in both sides of the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. ''S. aurita'' went through a large boom in catch population around 1990 ...

(''Sardinella aurita''), but can be distinguished from that species by having gray caudal fins with black tips. It feeds on phytoplankton and fish larvae and is a

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 ...

oceanodromous Fish migration is mass relocation by fish from one area or body of water to another. Many types of fish migrate on a regular basis, on time scales ranging from daily to annually or longer, and over distances ranging from a few metres to thousa ...

species that forms

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 ...

in coastal waters, often mixed with ''S. aurita''. The

International Union for Conservation of Nature The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of nat ...

has rated this fish's conservation status as " vulnerable".

Diagnostic features

''S. madarensis'' is a distinctly elongate ''

'' while also having a variably protruding belly. These fish have a median number of gill rakers and their upper pectoral fin rays are white on the outer side with a black membrane in between. They are very hard to distinguish from ''

Sardinella aurita The round sardinella (''Sardinella aurita'') is a species of ray-finned fish in the genus ''Sardinella'' found in both sides of the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. ''S. aurita'' went through a large boom in catch population around 1990 ...

'' except that these fish have only 7 rays on their pelvic fins and no black spot on the hind part of their gill cover. They also have a gray caudal fin (see

Fish anatomy Fish anatomy is the study of the form or morphology of fish. It can be contrasted with fish physiology, which is the study of how the component parts of fish function together in the living fish. In practice, fish anatomy and fish physiology c ...

) with black tips.

Recent history

''S. madarensis'' catches have decreased from 1.8 tonnes per trip in 2003 down to 1.5 tonnes in the following two years. The major fishing grounds for these fish are off the coasts of Senegal and Morocco. Over the course of the last ten years the average size of these fish has decreased down from 35 cm to 32 cm. Experts say that these changes are in large part due to very active Dutch commercial fishing in the region.FAO Corporate Document Repository. "Report of the FAO Working Group on the Assessment of Small Pelagic Fish off Northwest Africa." Fisheries and Agriculture Department. 2006.

Habitats

These ''Sardinella'' can handle very low

salinities Salinity () is the saltiness or amount of salt dissolved in a body of water, called saline water (see also soil salinity). It is usually measured in g/L or g/kg (grams of salt per liter/kilogram of water; the latter is dimensionless and equal ...

when they travel into

estuaries An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime environmen ...

and lagoons and spend most of their lives near the surface of the water. They feed on phytoplankton and fish larvae. These are some of the larger fish in the genus and grow to as much as 35 cm.

Status

The population of the Madeiran sardinella is declining as both it and ''S. aurita'' are being overexploited, with the average size of fish in the catch reducing. As a result, the

has rated its conservation status as " vulnerable".

References

maderensis Commercial fish Fish of the Atlantic Ocean Fish of the Mediterranean Sea Fauna of Madeira Vulnerable animals Vulnerable biota of Africa Vulnerable biota of Europe Taxa named by Richard Thomas Lowe Fish described in 1838 {{Clupeiformes-stub