''Sardinella brasiliensis'', (Brazilian sardinella or orangespot sardine) is a species of

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 ...

. ''S. brasilensis'' are extremely 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 ...

'' and are combined in most studies and catch estimates. They

spawn Spawn or spawning may refer to: * Spawn (biology), the eggs and sperm of aquatic animals Arts, entertainment, and media * Spawn (character), a fictional character in the comic series of the same name and in the associated franchise ** '' Spawn: ...

in coastal areas during late spring and summer. The most dense spawning periods are in December and January. From 1973 to 1990 the catch in Venezuela was down from 228000 tons to 31000 tons. These fish are present in the Western Atlantic (including the Gulf of Mexico, Caribbean, West Indies all the way down to Brazil

Distinguishing features

The standard length of these sardinella is around 20 cm. ''S. brasiliensis'' is similar to their close relative ''S. aurita'' but ''S. brasiliensis'' have two peak spawning seasons. It is important to differentiate this species from ''S. aurita''. Some of the features that make them unique include the anterior gillrakers (see

List of ichthyology terms This glossary of ichthyology is a list of definitions of terms and concepts used in ichthyology, the study of fishes. A B C ...

) which are curled down on the lower limbs of the second and third gill arches. They both have 8 rays on the pelvic fin and have 2 fleshy appendages along the outer margin of the gill opening with many scale stripes (striae) on the top of the head.

Monitoring corruption in retail

It is common for retailers to substitute ''Sardinella brasilensis'' and closely related species for anchovies in commercial markets. In order to combat this false advertising scientists are developing an efficient method of testing mitochondrial DNA of these fish using the

Polymerase Chain Reaction The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is a method widely used to rapidly make millions to billions of copies (complete or partial) of a specific DNA sample, allowing scientists to take a very small sample of DNA and amplify it (or a part of it) ...

. The inaccurate representation of packaged fish is a potential safety hazard to consumers.

Footnotes

brasiliensis Taxa named by Franz Steindachner Fish described in 1879 {{Clupeiformes-stub