Spanish Sardine, Sardinella aurita
Spanish Sardine, Sardinella aurita. Fish caught from the Skyway Pier, Tampa, Florida, April 2020. Length: 7.8 cm (3.1 inches). Catch, photograph and identification courtesy of Luke Ovgard, Klamath Falls, Oregon.
Spanish Sardine, Sardinella aurita. Fish caught from coastal waters off Boca Raton, Florida, August 2022. Length 8.2 cm (3.3 inches). Catch, photograph and identification courtesy of James Lafontaine, Long Island, New York.
The Spanish Sardine, Sardinella aurita, that is also known as the Round Sardinella and in Mexico as sardina española, is a member of the Herring or Clupeidia Family of herrings and sardines. There are twenty-four global members of the Sardinella Genus with this being the only one found in Mexican waters of the Atlantic Ocean.
The Spanish Sardine has a slender elongated rounded fusiform body with a depth that is 20% to 24% of standard length. They have an overall silvery appearance being dark blue dorsally with a faint golden mid-lateral stripe that is preceded by a faint golden spot behind the gill cover and a black spot at the rear of the gill cover. They have a small mouth that opens at the front. Their anal fin has 16 to 18 rays, the caudal fin is forked, their dorsal fin which has 17 to 20 rays, their pectoral fins have 1 unbranched ray and 14 to 16 branched rays, and, their pelvic fins have 1 unbranched ray and 8 branched rays and are under the center of the dorsal fin base. They have more than 80 fine lower gill rakers. Their belly is covered with a complete row of scutes.
The Spanish Sardine is a coastal pelagic schooling species found over all types of terrain at depths up to 350 m (1,150 feet) in tropical and subtropical waters with temperatures between 18oC (64oF) and 25oC (77oF). They are fast growing and reach a maximum of 41 cm (16 inches) in length and 420 g (0.9 pounds) in weight. The females grow faster and are larger than the males. They feed on phytoplankton and zooplankton undergoing daily Diehl migrations following their food toward the surface at night and returning to the depths during daylight hours. During warm water episodes they retreat to below the thermocline. The juveniles are found in coastal waters until they mature and join the adults in deeper waters. Reproduction involves broadcast spawning with each female releasing between 20,000 and 150,000 eggs in annual cycles which are fertilized externally by the males. They have life spans of up to seven years.
The Spanish Sardine has a wide distribution being found along both coasts of the Atlantic Ocean and in the Mediterranean Sea. In Mexican waters they are found throughout the Gulf of Mexico and along the east coast of the Yucatán Peninsula in the Caribbean.
The Spanish Sardine is most likely confused with the False Pilchard, Harengula clupeola (dark spot behind the gill cover), the Redear Sardine, Harengula humeralis (dark tipped dorsal fin), and the Scaled Sardine, Haerngula jaguana (dark spot behind the gill cover).
From a conservation perspective the Spanish Sardine is currently considered to be of Least Concern however, in some regions they are heavily overfished and catches levels are in significant decline with smaller younger fish now dominating the catch. They are heavily fished commercially with purse seine nets off the West African coast, in the Mediterranean Sea and along the coasts of Brazil and Venezuela at levels in excess of two million tons per year, however, landing rates are poorly maintained. In the United States they are heavily regulated. They are marketed fresh or canned for human consumption, are utilized as a component of fishmeal, and also as a quality baitfish.