Falkland sprat

Falkland sprat
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Clupeiformes
Family: Clupeidae
Genus: Sprattus
Species: S. fuegensis
Binomial name
Sprattus fuegensis
(Jenyns, 1842)
Synonyms
  • Clupea fuegensis Jenyns, 1842
  • Sprattus fueguensis (Jenyns, 1842)

The Fueguian sprat or Falkland sprat, Sprattus fuegensis, is a herring-like, marine fish in the family Clupeidae found in the subtropical southwest Atlantic Ocean from 40° S to Tierra del Fuego and the Falkland Islands. Its depth range is from the surface to 10 m, and its length is up to 18 cm.

The Fueguian sprat has a lower jaw slightly projecting, and a gill cover without bony radiating striae. The last two anal fin rays are not enlarged, and there are no dark spots on the flanks. The pterotic bulla is absent. It is a schooling species found in coastal waters, and a food item of hakes, sea birds and seals in Patagonian Falkland waters.

Coloration is dark blue dorsally and silvery white laterally and ventrally, and all fins are translucent.

References

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 8/3/2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.