Chilean herring

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Chilean herring
Systematics
Order : Herring-like (Clupeiformes)
Subordination : Clupeoidei
Family : Herring (Clupeidae)
Subfamily : Clupeinae
Genre : Strangomera
Type : Chilean herring
Scientific name of the  genus
Strangomera
Whitehead , 1965
Scientific name of the  species
Strangomera bentincki
( Norman , 1936)

The Chilean herring ( Strangomera bentincki , synonym : Clupea bentincki ) is a type of herring (Clupeidae) that occurs in the eastern South Pacific off the coast of Chile . Although this species was of minor importance for fisheries in the past, the number of catches for Chilean herring has increased rapidly since the 1990s. The animals are mainly used for the production of protein and fat-rich fish meal , among other things for the production of feed for fish farms .

features

The fish is a maximum of about 28.5 centimeters long, but on average only about 15 centimeters and reaches sexual maturity at a length of 10 to 11 centimeters. The animals are slender and rounded in cross-section, the belly is not strongly keeled. The fish are dark brown on the back and silvery on the sides, the fins are translucent. They have 13 to 21 dorsal soft rays and no dorsal fin spines. The anal fin consists of 12 to 23 soft rays and is also stingless.

distribution

The Chilean herring lives in the eastern South Pacific off the coast of Chile . Its distribution area extends from Coquimbo and Valparaíso south to Talcahuano and probably also to the Chilean island of Mocha . It is possible that, especially in the south, confusion with the very similar sprat species Sprattus fuegensis occurs.

Way of life

The animals live in large schools in the coastal waters near the surface to depths of around 70 meters. They feed on plankton , especially diatoms , which they filter out of the water. Reproduction takes place in summer mainly from June to November, the animals reach sexual maturity with a body length of about 10 centimeters. The eggs and larvae live planktonically.

Systematics

The first scientific description of the species comes from the British ichthyologist John Roxborough Norman from 1936. He described the species as Clupea bentincki and thus classified it in the genus of the true herring ( Clupea ). Peter JP Whitehead introduced the species in 1965 as the only species in the newly described and monotypical genus Strangomera . Sometimes the species is still assigned to Clupea .

Within the species, a distinction is made between two subspecies, Strangomera bentincki bentincki in the sea areas south of Talcahuano and Strangomera bentincki cuga between Valparaiso to Talcahuano.

Hazard and protection

The IUCN classifies the Chilean herring stock as not endangered, although the current population trend is unknown.

The main threat to stocks comes from industrial fisheries off Chile, where the species is one of the most commonly caught species. Although the fish are heavily fished throughout their range, they are often abundant and there is little evidence that this species is overfished . The number of catches of this species reported to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) averages around 280,000 tons per year (2018). Overall, the reported catch figures have risen sharply over the past decades (statistics since 1950), especially since the 1990s. In 1983 the number of catches was around 18,600 tons, in 1999 with 782,000 tons and in 2011 with 887,000 tons, striking peak quantities were achieved. The animals are mainly processed into fish meal , which makes up around 80% of the total amount used.

The effects of the El Niño weather phenomenon on populations of this species have also been studied and the population figures have been found to be negatively correlated with anomalies in sea surface temperature.

supporting documents

  1. ↑ a b c d e Chilean herring on Fishbase.org (English); accessed on September 18, 2019.
  2. ↑ a b c d Strangomera bentincki , species portrait at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO); accessed on September 18, 2019.
  3. ↑ a b c Peter JP Whitehead: FAO SPECIES CATALOG: Vol.7. Clupeoid fishes of the world (Suborder Clupeoidei). An annotated and illustrated catalog of the herrings, sardines, pilchards, sprats, shads, anchovies and wolf-herrings. Part 1. Chirocentridae, Clupeidae and Pristigasteridae. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome 1985. ( Download )
  4. ↑ a b c Strangomera bentincki in the endangered Red List species the IUCN 2019. Posted by: F. Di Dario, J. Williams, 2017. Accessed September 18 of 2019.

literature

  • Peter JP Whitehead: FAO SPECIES CATALOG: Vol.7. Clupeoid fishes of the world (Suborder Clupeoidei). An annotated and illustrated catalog of the herrings, sardines, pilchards, sprats, shads, anchovies and wolf-herrings. Part 1. Chirocentridae, Clupeidae and Pristigasteridae. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome 1985. ( Download )

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