Scaled Sardine, Harengula jaguana
Scaled Sardine, Harengula jaguana. Fish caught off coastal waters off Cape Coral, Florida, July 2019. Length: 7.0 cm (2.8 inches). Catch, photograph, and identification courtesy of Chris Moore, Peoria, Arizona.
Scaled Sardine, Harengula jaguana. Fish caught off coastal waters off Key Largo, Florida, July 2019. Length: 7.0 cm (2.8 inches). Catch, photograph and identification courtesy of Eli (obsessiveangling.wordpress.com).
Scaled Sardine, Harengula jaguana. Fish caught off coastal waters off Alexander Springs, Florida, April 2019. Length: 7.0 cm (2.8 inches). Catch, photograph and identification courtesy of Luke Ovgard, Klamath Falls, Oregon. April 2019, in Alexander Springs, Florida
Scaled Sardine, Harengula jaguana. Fish caught off coastal waters off Tierra Verde, Florida, December 2013. Length: 14.0 cm (5.5 inches). Catch, photograph, and identification courtesy of Ryan Crutchfield, Tampa, Florida.
Scaled Sardine, Harengula jaguana. Fish caught off coastal waters off Tampa, Florida, December 2013. Length: 18.0 cm (7.1 inches). Catch, photograph, and identification courtesy of Ben Cantrell, Peoria, Illinois.
The Scaled Sardine, Harengula jaguana, is a member of the Herring or Clupeidae Family, that is known in Mexico as sardinita vivita escamuda. Globally, there are four species in the genus Harengula, all of which are found in Mexican waters, three in the Atlantic and one in the Pacific Ocean.
The Scaled Sardine has a deep fusiform compressed body with a depth that is 33% to 37% of standard length. Both their upper and lower body profiles are convex. They are bluish-black with faint horizontal streaks dorsally and transition to silvery ventrally. They have a black spot behind their gill covers. Their fins are clear with the exception that the tip of their caudal fin is dusky. Their mouth opens at the front and their lower jaw is slightly projecting. Their anal fin has a short base and originates well behind the dorsal fin with 15 to 19 rays; their caudal fin is deeply forked; their dorsal fin originates slightly before the center of the body and has 17 to 19 rays ; their pectoral fins are long; and, their pelvic fins are located halfway between the anal fin origin and the pectoral fin base. They have 32 to 39 gill rakers. Their belly is covered with bony scales.
The Scaled Sardine is a pelagic coastal species that form very large schools in coastal waters. They are found over sandy and muddy bottoms in estuaries and lagoons at depths up to 9 m (30 feet). They reach a maximum of 27.5 cm (10.8 inches) in length. They are fast-growing and have a very short lifespan, living less than 3 years. They are planktivores feeding on a variety or prey including amphipods, copepods, insect larvae, isopods, small mollusks, mysids, and ostracods. In turn they play an important role as a food source, including their eggs and larvae, for a wide variety of marine fish, marine mammals, and sea birds. Reproduction is oviparous with each female releasing 5,500 to 52,000 eggs annually. They are more active nocturnally and make vertical migrations in pursuit of crustacean prey. They are prone to rapid death under low oxygen conditions. The Scaled Sardine is poorly studied with very limited information available about their lifestyle and behavioral patterns including specific details on age, growth, longevity, movement patterns, diet, habitat use, and reproduction.
The Scaled Sardine is a resident of all Mexican waters of the Atlantic Ocean including the Gulf of Mexico and the east coast of the Yucatán Peninsula in the Caribbean.
The Scaled Sardine is most likely confused with the False Pilchard, Harengula clupeola (body depth 30 to 33% of standard length; 30 to 32 gill rakers; pelvic fins closer to pectoral base than anal base) and the Redear Sardine, Harengula humeralis (lacks black spot on shoulder) and is found in mixed schools with both.
From a conservation perspective the Scaled Sardine is currently considered to be of Least Concern with stable, widely distributed populations. There are of limited use a value with the exception that when available, they make an excellent live bait.