You can sponsor this page

Sprattus sprattus  (Linnaeus, 1758)

European sprat
Upload your photos and videos
 Pictures | Google image
Image of Sprattus sprattus (European sprat)
Sprattus sprattus
Picture by Svensen, R.

Germany (Federal Republic of) country information

Common names: Anchosen, Anchovis, Appetitsild
Occurrence: native
Salinity: brackish
Abundance: common (usually seen) | Ref: Winkler, H.M., K. Skora, R. Repecka, M. Ploks, A. Neelov, L. Urho, A. Gushin and H. Jespersen, 2000
Importance: minor commercial | Ref: FAO, 1992
Aquaculture: | Ref:
Regulations: | Ref:
Uses: no uses
Comments: Found in the Elbe estuary (Ref. 51031). Recorded from ballast water in commercial vessels with destination port in Germany (Ref. 37896).
National Checklist:
Country Information: httpss://www.cia.gov/library/publications/resources/the-world-factbook/geos/gm.html
National Fisheries Authority: https://www.ble.de/index.cfm?8C712107D9244972B3C193AC1917DCE7#Handelsbezeichnungen
Occurrences: Occurrences Point map
Main Ref: Whitehead, P.J.P., 1985
National Database: AGRDEU

Classification / Names

Actinopterygii (ray-finned fishes) > Clupeiformes (Herrings) > Clupeidae (Herrings, shads, sardines, menhadens) > Clupeinae
Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes (gen., sp.) | ITIS | CoL

Common names from other countries

Шпрот европейский, Sprat, Espadín, ... more

Main reference

Whitehead, P.J.P. 1985. (Ref. 188)
 References | Biblio | Coordinator | Collaborators

Size / Weight / Age

Max length : 16.0 cm SL male/unsexed; (Ref. 188); common length : 12.0 cm SL male/unsexed; (Ref. 188); max. reported age: 6 years (Ref. 3561)

Length at first maturity
 Lm 10.6, range 8 - 12 cm

Environment

Marine; brackish; pelagic-neritic; oceanodromous (Ref. 51243); depth range 10 - 150 m (Ref. 6302)

Climate / Range

Temperate, preferred 11°C (Ref. 107945); 66°N - 30°N, 11°W - 42°E

Distribution

Northeast Atlantic: North Sea and adjacent waters as far north as the Lofoten Area and the west of the British Isles, and Baltic Sea south to Morocco; also in northern Mediterranean (Gulf of Lion and the Adriatic Sea) and Black Sea.
 Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Introductions

Short description

Dorsal spines (total): 0; Dorsal soft rays (total): 13-21; Anal spines: 0; Anal soft rays: 12 - 23. Lower jaw slightly projecting, gill cover without any bony radiating striae, teeth rarely present on vomer; belly with a strong keel of scutes; last two anal fin rays not enlarged. No dark spots on flanks. Pterotic bulla absent.

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Usually inshore schooling, sometimes entering estuaries (especially the juveniles) and tolerating salinities as low as 4 ppt. Shows strong migrations between winter feeding and summer spawning grounds. Moves to the surface at night. Feeds on planktonic crustaceans (Ref. 9900). Spawns at depths of 10-20 m producing 6,000-14,000 pelagic eggs (Ref. 35388). Some spawn almost throughout the year, mainly in spring and summer, near the coast or up to 100 km out to sea, the young drifting inshore. Sold as 'brislings' to canneries. Sprat are used in the production of fish meal and as mink food, less for human consumption (Ref. 9900). Utilized fresh, smoked, canned and frozen; can be pan-fried and broiled (Ref. 9988).

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 115185)

  Not Evaluated 

Threat to humans

  Reports of ciguatera poisoning (Ref. 30911)



Human uses

Fisheries: highly commercial; bait: usually

Tools

Bio-Quiz | E-book | Field guide | Identification keys | Length-frequency wizard | Life-history tool | Point map | Classification Tree

Special reports

Check for Aquarium maintenance | Check for Species Fact Sheets | Check for Aquaculture Fact Sheets

Download XML

Summary page | Point data | Common names | Photos

Internet sources

Alien/Invasive Species database | BHL | BOLDSystems | Check for other websites | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | DiscoverLife | ECOTOX | FAO(fisheries: production, species profile; publication : search) | FIRMS (Stock assessments) | GenBank(genome, nucleotide) | GOBASE | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | iSpecies | National databases | PubMed | Scirus | Sea Around Us | SeaLifeBase | Tree of Life | uBio | uBio RSS | Wikipedia(Go, Search) | World Records Freshwater Fishing | Zoological Record | Fishtrace

Estimates of some properties based on models

Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82805)
 PD50 = 0.5312 many relatives (e.g. carps) 0.5 - 2.0 few relatives (e.g. lungfishes)

Trophic Level (Ref. 69278)
 3.0   ±0.07 se; Based on food items.

Resilience (Ref. 69278)
 Medium, minimum population doubling time 1.4 - 4.4 years (rm=1.7; K=0.14-0.77; tm=1-2; tmax=6; Fec=2,000 (batch fec))

Vulnerability (Ref. 59153)
 Low vulnerability (25 of 100)
Price category (Ref. 80766)
 Low