Big earfish

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Big earfish
Atherina hepsetus Stefano Guerrieri 1.jpg

Great earfish ( Atherina hepsetus )

Systematics
Ovalentaria
Superordinate : Earfish relatives (Atherinomorphae)
Order : Earfish (Atheriniformes)
Family : Old world earfish (Atherinidae)
Genre : Atherina
Type : Big earfish
Scientific name
Atherina hepsetus
Linnaeus , 1758

The great earfish ( Atherina hepsetus ) is a species of Old World earfish that can be found in the Mediterranean , the bordering Eastern Atlantic and parts of the Black Sea.

features

The great earfish has an elongated and slender body and reaches a body length of a maximum of 20 centimeters. The relatively short head, flattened on the top, has an upwardly sloping mouth. The body is silvery with a green to bluish tinge and has a gray-blue vertical stripe on the sides.

The dorsal fin is divided. The first dorsal fin is well behind the end of the pectoral fins, the second dorsal fin opposite the anal fin . The two dorsal fins are a sure differentiator to the similar and also silvery sardine ( Sardina pilchardus ), which has only one. The anal fin has 10 to 12 fin rays. A total of 59 to 65 scales lie along the sideline .

distribution

The great earfish can be found in the Mediterranean , in the eastern Atlantic from the coast of the Iberian Peninsula via Morocco , the Canary Islands to Madeira and in parts of the Black Sea .

Way of life

Atherina hepsetus.jpg

Large ear fish live as schooling fish near the coast at depths of up to 10 meters, where they occasionally invade lagoons and the brackish water of river mouths. They are mainly found in the surface area and feed on plankton organisms , especially copepods and small crustaceans living on the ground.

The breeding season of the fish in the western Mediterranean is between December and May. The eggs are released into the open water and adhere to algae, rocks or the ground with fine threads.

use

The fish are often fried in the Mediterranean and eaten as a starter.

supporting documents

  1. ↑ a b c d e Matthias Bergbauer, Bernd Humberg: What lives in the Mediterranean? Franckh-Kosmos Verlag, Stuttgart 1999, ISBN 3-440-07733-0 , p. 278.
  2. ↑ a b c Big earfish on Fishbase.org (English)

literature

  • Matthias Bergbauer, Bernd Humberg: What lives in the Mediterranean? Franckh-Kosmos Verlag, Stuttgart 1999, ISBN 3-440-07733-0 , p. 278.

Web links

Commons : Greater earfish ( Atherina hepsetus )  - Collection of images, videos and audio files