The Lake Malawi sardine, lake sardine, or usipa (''Engraulicypris sardella''), is an African species of freshwater fish in the family

Danionidae The danionins are a group of small, minnow-type fish belonging to the family Danionidae. Species of this group are in the genera clades ''Danio'' and '' Devario'' (which also includes ''Chela'', ''Laubuka'', ''Microdevario'', and ''Microrasbora ...

. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

Lake Malawi Lake Malawi, also known as Lake Nyasa in Tanzania and Lago Niassa in Mozambique, () is an African Great Lakes, African Great Lake and the southernmost lake in the East African Rift system, located between Malawi, Mozambique and Tanzania. It is ...

and its outlet, the (upper)

Shire River The Shire is the largest river in Malawi. It is the only outlet of Lake Malawi and flows into the Zambezi River in Mozambique. Its length is . The upper Shire River issues from Lake Malawi and runs approximately before it enters shallow Lake Malo ...

; it is found in

Malawi Malawi, officially the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked country in Southeastern Africa. It is bordered by Zambia to the west, Tanzania to the north and northeast, and Mozambique to the east, south, and southwest. Malawi spans over and ...

Mozambique Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique, is a country located in Southeast Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west, and Eswatini and South Afr ...

, and

Tanzania Tanzania, officially the United Republic of Tanzania, is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It is bordered by Uganda to the northwest; Kenya to the northeast; the Indian Ocean to the east; Mozambique and Malawi to t ...

. The Lake Malawi sardine is an important fishery species in Lake Malawi, both as a food fish and as bait. It is a

pelagic The pelagic zone consists of the water column of the open ocean and can be further divided into regions by depth. The word ''pelagic'' is derived . The pelagic zone can be thought of as an imaginary cylinder or water column between the sur ...

shoaling In biology, any group of fish that stay together for social reasons are shoaling, and if the group is swimming in the same direction in a coordinated manner, they are schooling. In common usage, the terms are sometimes used rather loosely. Ab ...

species that feeds on

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 ...

. It grows to a maximum size of TL, though commonly they are smaller. Usipa plays a significant role in the economic livelihood for many households at Lake Malawi that rely upon fishing for income. Because of its small size, it is commonly dried. Usipa is mostly eaten in

and

along with

nsima Ugali, also known as posho, nsima, papa, pap, sadza, isitshwala, akume, amawe, ewokple, akple, and #Names, other names, is a type of maize, corn meal made from maize flour, maize or corn or ''mahindi'' flour in several African countries: Kenya, ...

ugali Ugali, also known as posho, nsima, papa, pap, sadza, isitshwala, akume, amawe, ewokple, akple, and other names, is a type of corn meal made from maize or corn or ''mahindi'' flour in several African countries: Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Zimbabw ...

. Dried usipa is sold at most markets in Malawi. In Malawi, usipa is typically consumed with the bones in it due to their softness.

References

Engraulicypris Fish of Lake Malawi Fish of Malawi Fish of Mozambique Freshwater fish of Tanzania Commercial fish Fish described in 1868 Taxa named by Albert Günther Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Danioninae-stub