''Amblygaster clupeoides'', the Bleeker smoothbelly sardinella, blue pilchard, sharp-nosed pilchard, or sharpnose sardine, is a reef-associated marine species of

sardinella ''Sardinella'' is a genus of fish in the family Dorosomatidae found in the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans. They are abundant in warmer waters of the tropical and subtropical oceans. Adults are generally coastal, schooling, marine fish but ...

s in the herring family

Clupeidae Clupeidae is a family of clupeiform ray-finned fishes, comprising, for instance, the herrings and sprats. Many members of the family have a body protected with shiny cycloid (very smooth and uniform) scales, a single dorsal fin, and a fusiform ...

. It is one of the three species of genus '' Amblygaster''.

Distribution

It is found in the marine waters along Indo-West Pacific regions.

Description

The fish has 13 to 21 dorsal soft rays and 12 to 23 anal soft rays. It grows up to a maximum length of 21 cm. The flank is gold in fresh fish but becomes black while preservation. Belly is more rounded and scutes are not prominent.

Diet

The fish feeds on minute organisms like

copepod Copepods (; meaning 'oar-feet') are a group of small crustaceans found in nearly every freshwater and saltwater habitat (ecology), habitat. Some species are planktonic (living in the water column), some are benthos, benthic (living on the sedimen ...

s, ''

Mysis ''Mysis'' is a genus of mysid crustaceans in the family Mysidae, distributed mainly in the coastal zone of the Arctic and high boreal seas. Several species also inhabit northern freshwater lakes and the brackish Caspian Sea. Fifteen species are ...

'' and

zooplankton Zooplankton are the heterotrophic component of the planktonic community (the " zoo-" prefix comes from ), having to consume other organisms to thrive. Plankton are aquatic organisms that are unable to swim effectively against currents. Consequent ...

. Widely used as bait in the

tuna A tuna (: tunas or tuna) is a saltwater fish that belongs to the tribe Thunnini, a subgrouping of the Scombridae ( mackerel) family. The Thunnini comprise 15 species across five genera, the sizes of which vary greatly, ranging from the bul ...

fishery all along the world, both as a live or dead forms.

References

External links

* Amblygaster Taxa named by Pieter Bleeker Fish described in 1849 Fish of the Indian Ocean Fish of the Pacific Ocean {{Clupeiformes-stub

Distribution

Description

Diet

See also

References

External links