European sprat
| European sprat | ||||||||||||
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European sprat ( Sprattus sprattus ) |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Sprattus sprattus | ||||||||||||
| ( Linnaeus , 1758) |
The European sprat ( Sprattus sprattus ), also called Sprott , Brisling or Breitling , is a swarm-forming type of herring (Clupeidae) with a silver skin and a blue-gray back.
features
The European sprat has an elongated and spindle-shaped body that reaches a total length of about 16 centimeters. The back of the fish is blue to blue-gray, the sides and belly are silvery in color.
The caudal fin is clearly forked and the dorsal fin is positioned above or slightly behind the pectoral fins . It has 15 to 19, the anal fin 17 to 22, the ventral fin 15 to 17 and the pectoral fins 6 to 8 fin rays each. The mouth is noticeably uppermost .
distribution
The distribution area of the European sprat stretches in the Atlantic from Scandinavia to Morocco and includes the Baltic and North Seas as well as the Mediterranean and the Black Sea . In the Baltic Sea there is a separate subspecies, the Baltic Sea sprat ( S. s. Balticus ), which is the only one to be distinguished from the nominate form and which also occurs in brackish water .
Way of life
European sprats, like other herrings, form large schools that reside in the pelagic sea. During the day, the swarms are mostly at depths of around 150 meters and only rise into the surface water when it is dark. The adult fish feed mainly on zooplankton , while the young fish mainly use diatoms as food.
The spawning areas of the sprats are in the coastal zones, with the swarms often bridging long migrations between the grazing grounds and the spawning grounds. Each Rogner (the female, egg-bearing fish) releases 6000 to 14,000 eggs at a depth of about 10 to 20 meters when spawning. The spawn floats in the water and is fertilized by the milkers , after about a week the fish larvae, about four millimeters long, hatch. The fish reach sexual maturity after about two years , and they have a maximum lifespan of about six years.
Sprats as edible fish
The high-fat sprats are one of the most important European fish . The smoked Kiel sprats are well known . Salted sprats of the Sprattus sprattus balticus subspecies are marketed as (fake) anchovies . A typical method of preparation is to bake the sprats rolled in flour, skewered in rows.
Individual evidence
literature
- Andreas Vilcinskas : Fish. Central European freshwater species and marine fish from the North and Baltic Seas. BLV, Munich 2000, ISBN 3-405-15848-6 , page 60.
Web links
- Sprat on Fishbase.org (English)