Etrumeus sadina

Common Name

Round Herring

Year Described

Mitchill, 1814

Identification

Dorsal Fin: 16-20
Anal Fin: 10-13
Pectoral Fin:
Pelvic Fin: 8
Vertebrae: 48-56
Lateral Line Scales: 48-55
Gill Rakers: 14-15 upper, 34-38 lower (first arch in adults)
Branchiostegal rays number 14-15.

Body slender and cylindrical in cross-section. Mouth small with a rectangular premaxilla. No scutes on ventral surface. Single dorsal fin. Pelvic and anal fins set far back on body (behind dorsal rearmost ray). Scute anterior to pelvic fin W-shaped. Tail forked.

Color

Body bright silvery, with an olive to bluish back. Often with a brassy sheen.

Size

Maximum size to 25cm TL. Common to about 18cm TL.

Habitat

Offshore pelagic over the continental shelf and slope. Rare inshore. Known to to be a diel vertical migrator. Forms large schools.

Range

Southeastern Canada to the Gulf of Mexico. Scattered records from the Caribbean Sea and northern South America.

References

DiBattista, J.D., J.E. Randall and B.W. Bowen, 2012. Review of the round herrings of the genus Etrumeus (Clupeidae: Dussumieriinae) of Africa, with descriptions of two new species. Cybium 36(3): 447-460.

McEachran, J.D. & J.D. Fechhelm. 1998. Fishes of the Gulf of Mexico. Volume 1: Myxiniformes to Gasterosteiformes. University of Texas Press, Austin. i-viii + 1-1112.

Munroe, T.A. & M.S. Nizinski. 2002. Clupeidaeidae (pp 804-830). In: Carpenter. 2002. The living marine resources of the Western Central Atlantic. Vol. 2: Bony fishes part 1 (Acipenseridae-Grammatidae). FAO Species Identification Guides for Fisheries Purposes. American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists Special Publication No. 5.

Other Notes

According to DiBattista et al. (2012), the name Etrumeus sadina refers to the western Atlantic population of what was originally known as E. teres.