Ramnogaster arcuata

Common Name

Jenyns's Sprat

Year Described

Jenyns, 1842

Identification

Dorsal Fin: 18-19
Anal Fin: 20-25
Pelvic Fin: 6 branched
Pectoral Fin: 16
Ventral Scutes: 26-29
Gill Rakers: 41-45 (first arch)

Body fusiforme, rather deep (~30% SL), and compressed. Posterior gill margin rounded with no fleshy lobes. Eye a little smaller than snout length. Upper jaw without median notch and reaching to eye. Supramaxilla (first anterior) minute or absent. No backward pointing spine on maxilla. Dorsal and ventral profiles convex. Dorsal fin origin centered at about midbody and has a concave margin. Pelvic fin under dorsal fin origin. Anal fin low with origin under last dorsal ray. Pectoral fin low on chest. Tail forked. Body scaled. Ventral scutes with strong keels.

Color

Body silvery with a greenish to dusky back. Caudal fin dusky yellow with dark base and margin. Rest of fins clear. No silvery stripe.

Size

Common from 7-9cm SL.

Habitat

Coastal pelagic in shallow coastal waters and estuaries. Not found in low salinity water or in freshwater.

Range

Southern Brazil to Bahia Blanca, Argentina.

References

Whitehead, P.J.P. 1985. FAO Species Catalogue. Vol. 7. Clupeoid fishes of the world (suborder Clupeoidei). 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.