The Fueguian sprat or Falkland sprat (''Sprattus fuegensis'') is a
herring
Herring are various species of forage fish, belonging to the Order (biology), order Clupeiformes.
Herring often move in large Shoaling and schooling, schools around fishing banks and near the coast, found particularly in shallow, temperate wate ...
-like,
marine fish in the
family
Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...
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 ...
found in the
subtropical
The subtropical zones or subtropics are geographical zone, geographical and Köppen climate classification, climate zones immediately to the Northern Hemisphere, north and Southern Hemisphere, south of the tropics. Geographically part of the Ge ...
southwest
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...
from 40° S to
Tierra del Fuego
Tierra del Fuego (, ; Spanish for "Land of Fire", rarely also Fireland in English) is an archipelago off the southernmost tip of the South America, South American mainland, across the Strait of Magellan.
The archipelago consists of the main is ...
and the
Falkland Islands
The Falkland Islands (; ), commonly referred to as The Falklands, is an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean on the Patagonian Shelf. The principal islands are about east of South America's southern Patagonian coast and from Cape Dub ...
. Its depth range is from the surface to 10 m, and its length is up to 18 cm.
The Fueguian sprat has a lower jaw slightly projecting, and a
gill
A gill () is a respiration organ, respiratory organ that many aquatic ecosystem, aquatic organisms use to extract dissolved oxygen from water and to excrete carbon dioxide. The gills of some species, such as hermit crabs, have adapted to allow r ...
cover without bony radiating striae. The last two
anal fin
Fins are moving appendages protruding from the body of fish that interact with water to generate thrust and help the fish swim. Apart from the tail or caudal fin, fish fins have no direct connection with the back bone and are supported o ...
rays are not enlarged, and there are no dark spots on the flanks. The pterotic bulla is absent. It is a schooling species found in coastal waters, and a food item of
hake
Hake is the common name for fish in the Merlucciidae family of the northern and southern oceans and the Phycidae family of the northern oceans. Hake is a commercially important fish in the same taxonomic order, Gadiformes, as cod and haddo ...
s, sea birds and
seals
Seals may refer to:
* Pinniped, a diverse group of semi-aquatic marine mammals, many of which are commonly called seals, particularly:
** Earless seal, or "true seal"
** Fur seal
* Seal (emblem), a device to impress an emblem, used as a means of a ...
in
Patagonian Falkland waters.
Coloration is dark blue
dorsally
Standard anatomical terms of location are used to describe unambiguously the anatomy of humans and other animals. The terms, typically derived from Latin or Greek roots, describe something in its standard anatomical position. This position provi ...
and silvery white laterally and ventrally, and all fins are translucent.
References
*
External links
Instituto Nacional de Investigación y Desarrollo Pesquero (INIDEP)
{{Taxonbar, from=Q2698807
Fueguian sprat
Fish of the Western Atlantic
Fauna of Tierra del Fuego
Fauna of Temperate South America
Fauna of the Falkland Islands
Fueguian sprat