Actinopterygii (ray-finned fishes) >
Clupeiformes (Herrings) >
Clupeidae (Herrings, shads, sardines, menhadens) > Dorosomatinae
Etymology: Nematalosa: Greek, nema, -atos = filament + Latin, alausa = a fish cited by Ausonius and Latin, halec = pickle, dealing with the Greek word hals = salt; it is also the old Saxon name for shad = "alli" ; 1591 (Ref. 45335).
Environment / Climate / Range
Ecology
Marine; freshwater; brackish; pelagic-neritic; anadromous (Ref. 51243); depth range 0 - 30 m (Ref. 6898). Tropical, preferred 25°C (Ref. 107945); 38°N - 1°N, 47°E - 136°E (Ref. 188)
Indo-West Pacific: Gulf of Aden north to the Persian Gulf, then eastward to the Andaman Sea, South China Sea and the Philippines, and north to southern tip of Korea. Single record from South Africa (Ref. 3259).
Size / Weight / Age
Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 22.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 3259); common length : 15.0 cm SL male/unsexed; (Ref. 188)
Dorsal
spines
(total): 0;
Dorsal
soft rays
(total): 15-19;
Anal
spines: 0;
Anal
soft rays: 17 - 26. Dark bluish dorsally, silvery below (Ref. 3259). A dark spot behind gill opening. Belly with 17 to 20 (usually 18) + 9 to 13 (usually 11), total 28 to 32 (usually 30) scutes. Anterior arm of pre-operculum with the third infra-orbital bone immediately above it, no fleshy gap between; lower jaw strongly flared outward. Pectoral axillary scale present; hind edge of scales distinctly toothed.
Known from estuaries and coastal areas, occasionally ascending into the upper reaches of the tidal zone (Ref. 12693). A filter-feeder. Marketed fresh, dried-salted or boiled. Made into fish balls. Very bony.
Life cycle and mating behavior
Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae
Whitehead, P.J.P., 1985. FAO Species Catalogue. Vol. 7. Clupeoid fishes of the world (suborder Clupeioidei). An annotated and illustrated catalogue of the herrings, sardines, pilchards, sprats, shads, anchovies and wolf-herrings. FAO Fish. Synop. 125(7/1):1-303. Rome: FAO. (Ref. 188)
IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 115185)
CITES (Ref. 94142)
Not Evaluated
Threat to humans
Harmless
Human uses
Fisheries: minor commercial
More information
ReferencesAquacultureAquaculture profileStrainsGeneticsAllele frequenciesHeritabilityDiseasesProcessingMass conversion
Tools
Special reports
Download XML
Internet sources
Estimates of some properties based on models
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref.
82805): PD
50 = 0.5005 [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00933 (0.00799 - 0.01090), b=3.03 (2.99 - 3.07), in cm Total Length, based on LWR estimates for this species (Ref.
93245).
Trophic Level (Ref.
69278): 2.2 ±0.09 se; Based on food items.
Resilience (Ref.
69278): High, minimum population doubling time less than 15 months (Preliminary K or Fecundity.).
Vulnerability (Ref.
59153): Low vulnerability (21 of 100) .