Striped Herring, Lile stolifera

Striped Herring, Lile stolifera. Fish caught with a cast net from coastal waters off Loreto, Baja California Sur, May 20196. Length: 8.5 cm (3.3 inches). Catch, photograph, and identification courtesy of Chris Wheaton, Fullerton, California.

Striped Herring, Lile stolifera. Fish caught with a cast net off the pier at Puerto Adolfo Lopez Mateos, Baja California Sur, April 2016. Length: 9.0 cm (3.5 inches).

Striped Herring, Lile stolifera.  Fish caught with a cast net off the pier at Puerto Adolfo Lopez Mateos, Baja California Sur, December 2017. Length: 14.0 cm (5.5 inches). Catch courtesy of Ruben Duran, Puerto Adolfo Lopez Mateos, Baja California Sur. Photograph and identification courtesy of Brad Murakami, Surrey, British Columbia, Canada.

The Striped Herring, Lile stolifera, is a member of the Herring or Clupeidae Family, that is also known as the Pacific Piquitinga, and in Mexico as sardinita rayada. Globally, there are four species in the genus Lile, and all four are found in Mexican waters, one in the Atlantic and three in the Pacific Ocean.

The Striped Herring has a moderately deep compressed body that has a depth that is 25% to 36% of standard length. Their lower body profile is strongly convex. Their mouth is short and slightly oblique. They are olive to bluish dorsally transitioning to silver ventrally. They have a bright silver stripe on their flank. The tip of their dorsal fin and their caudal fin lobes are black. The iris of their eyes is pale and their pupil is black. Their anal fin base is long with 13 to 23 rays; and, their dorsal fin originates before the pelvic fins and has 14 to 18 rays. Their body is covered with scales and their belly is sharply keeled with scutes.

The Striped Herring is a pelagic species found in coastal waters at depths up to 15 m (50 feet). They frequent bays, estuaries and lagoons in large schools and can also be found in brackish and fresh waters. They reach a maximum of 15.0 cm (5.9 inches) in length and are virtually weightless. They consume small crustaceans, and fish larvae and plankton. The Striped Herring 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 Striped Herring is a resident of all Mexican waters of the Pacific Ocean with the exception that they are absent from Guerrero Negro, Baja California, northward along the central and northwest coasts of Baja and from the extreme northern portions of the Sea of Cortez.

The Striped Herring can be confused with the Blackstripe Herring, Lile nigrofasciata (deeper body; broader mid-lateral stripe) and the Graceful Herring, Lile gracilis (clear top caudal fin lobe).

From a conservation perspective the Striped Herring is currently considered to be of Least Concern with stable, widely distributed populations. They are a small fairly common species in some areas. They are caught commercially via nets and processed into fish oil and fish meal.