The Black Sea sprat or Pontic sprat,[1] Clupeonella cultriventris, is a small fish of the herring family, Clupeidae. It is found in the Black Sea and Sea of Azov and rivers of its basins: Danube, Dnister, Dnipro (Ukraine), Southern Bug, Don, Kuban. It has white-grey flesh and silver-grey scales. A typical size is 10 cm (maximum 15 cm).[3] The life span is up to 5 years.[3] The peak of its spawning is in April and it can be found in enormous shoals in sea-shores, filled all-round coastal shallows, moving quickly back into the sea at a depth of 6–30 metres. Used for food; it has around 12% fat in flesh.

Quick Facts Conservation status, Scientific classification ...
Black Sea sprat
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Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Clupeiformes
Family: Ehiravidae
Genus: Clupeonella
Species:
C. cultriventris
Binomial name
Clupeonella cultriventris
(Nordmann, 1840)[2]
Synonyms
  • Clupea cultriventris Nordmann, 1840
  • Clupea cultriventris tscharchalensis (non Borodin, 1896)
  • Clupea delicatula Nordmann, 1840
  • Clupeonella cultiventris (Nordmann, 1840)
  • Clupeonella delicatula (Nordmann, 1840)
  • Clupeonella delicatula azovi Vladimirov, 1950
  • Clupeonella delicatula caspia (non Svetovidov, 1941)
  • Clupeonella delicatula cultriventris (Nordmann, 1840)
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It is one of the most abundant fishes in the Sea of Azov. It is important prey for other fishes, particularly the pikeperch.[4]

The Caspian tyulka Clupeonella caspia has been long considered a subspecies of C. cultriventris, C. cultriventris caspia, and a common name "Black and Caspian Sea sprat" was then applied to the whole.[5][3]

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See also

References

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