Atherina presbyter, Sand smelt : fisheries, gamefish

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Atherina presbyter Cuvier, 1829

Sand smelt
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Atherina presbyter   AquaMaps   Data sources: GBIF OBIS
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Image of Atherina presbyter (Sand smelt)
Atherina presbyter
Picture by Østergaard, T.

Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Teleostei (teleosts) > Atheriniformes (Silversides) > Atherinidae (Silversides) > Atherininae
Etymology: Atherina: Greek, atherina, the Greek name for the eperlane; 1770 (Ref. 45335).
More on author: Cuvier.

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Marine; brackish; pelagic-neritic; oceanodromous (Ref. 51243); depth range 1 - 10 m (Ref. 55871). Subtropical; 60°N - 14°N, 26°W - 17°E

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Point map | Introductions | Faunafri

Eastern Atlantic: Kattegat (rare) and British Isles to Canary Islands, Mauritania and Cape Verde, also western Mediterranean.

Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 20.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 30578); max. reported age: 4 years (Ref. 232)

Short description Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 7 - 9; Dorsal soft rays (total): 114; Anal spines: 1; Anal soft rays: 14 - 17. Scales in longitudinal series 52-57. Vertebrae 46-52 (Morocco), 49-52 (the Netherlands). No pyloric appendages. A large, characteristic, brilliant silvery stripe running along flanks from head to tail, often outlined in black. No true lateral line (Ref. 232). Eye diameter same with snout length (Ref. 35388).

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Small pelagic fishes in coastal areas and estuaries. Schooling, seasonal migrations in the Atlantic. Feeds on carnivorous small crustaceans and fish larvae (Ref. 5980). Reproduces in spring and summer (Ref. 30578).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae

Spawning occurs in midsummer in English Channel and North Sea.

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator : Dyer, Brian S. | Collaborators

Maugé, L.A., 1990. Atherinidae. p. 604-605. In J.C. Quero, J.C. Hureau, C. Karrer, A. Post and L. Saldanha (eds.) Check-list of the fishes of the eastern tropical Atlantic (CLOFETA). JNICT, Lisbon; SEI, Paris; and UNESCO, Paris. Vol. 2. (Ref. 4499)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435)

  Least Concern (LC) ; Date assessed: 20 May 2014

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Harmless





Human uses

Fisheries: subsistence fisheries; gamefish: yes
FAO - Publication: search | FishSource | Sea Around Us

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Internet sources

AFORO (otoliths) | Aquatic Commons | BHL | Cloffa | BOLDSystems | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes: genus, species | DiscoverLife | DORIS | ECOTOX | FAO - Publication: search | Faunafri | Fishipedia | Fishtrace | GenBank: genome, nucleotide | GloBI | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | MitoFish | National databases | Otolith Atlas of Taiwan Fishes | Public aquariums | PubMed | Reef Life Survey | Socotra Atlas | Tree of Life | Wikipedia: Go, Search | World Records Freshwater Fishing | Zoobank | Zoological Record

Estimates based on models

Preferred temperature (Ref. 123201): 9.2 - 20.3, mean 11.5 °C (based on 348 cells).
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804):  PD50 = 0.5312   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00525 (0.00318 - 0.00866), b=3.12 (2.98 - 3.26), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this species & (Sub)family-body (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level (Ref. 69278):  3.7   ±0.43 se; based on food items.
Resilience (Ref. 120179):  High, minimum population doubling time less than 15 months (K=0.70; tmax=4).
Prior r = 1.00, 95% CL = 0.66 - 1.50, Based on 1 stock assessment.
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  Low vulnerability (20 of 100).
Climate Vulnerability (Ref. 125649):  Low to moderate vulnerability (30 of 100).
Price category (Ref. 80766):   Medium.
Nutrients (Ref. 124155):  Calcium = 171 [101, 345] mg/100g; Iron = 1.8 [1.1, 2.9] mg/100g; Protein = 21 [19, 23] %; Omega3 = 0.412 [0.191, 0.888] g/100g; Selenium = 12.8 [5.9, 27.4] μg/100g; VitaminA = 25.1 [9.8, 65.9] μg/100g; Zinc = 1.19 [0.83, 1.72] mg/100g (wet weight);