Species of fish
The
European sprat
(
Sprattus sprattus
), also known as
brisling, brisling sardine, bristling
,
garvie
,
garvock
,
Russian sardine
,
russlet
,
skipper
or
whitebait
, is a species of small marine fish in the
herring
family
Clupeidae
.
[3]
Found in
European
,
West Asian
and
North African
waters, it has silver grey scales and white-grey flesh. Specific seas in which the species occurs include the
Irish Sea
,
Black Sea
,
Baltic Sea
and
Sea of the Hebrides
.
[4]
The fish is the subject of fisheries, particularly in Scandinavia, and is made into fish meal, as well as being used for human consumption. When used for food it can be canned, salted, breaded, fried, boiled, grilled, baked, deep fried, marinated, broiled, and smoked.
Taxonomy
[
edit
]
This fish was
first described
by
Carl Linnaeus
in 1758 in the
10th edition of Systema Naturae
. He called it
Clupea sprattus
, but it was later transferred to the
genus
Sprattus
.
[2]
Three subspecies are recognised;
S. sprattus balticus
from the Baltic Sea;
S. sprattus phalericus
from the Mediterranean, Adriatic and Black Seas and
S. sprattus sprattus
from the eastern Atlantic.
[5]
Description
[
edit
]
The European sprat is a small fish growing to a maximum length of 16 cm (6.3 in), but more often in the 8 to 12 cm (3 to 5 in) range. It is fairly elongate and somewhat laterally compressed, with a keel-like row of sharp scales along the belly. The lower jaw projects slightly, there are seldom any
vomerine
teeth on the roof of the mouth and the hind edge of the gill covers is smoothly rounded, without any fleshy protuberances. The
dorsal fin
has no spines and 13 to 21 soft rays while the anal fin has no spines and 12 to 23 soft rays. The origin of the pelvic fins, which have seven (occasionally eight) soft rays, are immediately below or in front of the origin of the dorsal fin. This fish has a bluish or greenish back and silvery flanks, with no dark spotting.
[5]
[6]
Distribution
[
edit
]
The European sprat is native to the northeastern Atlantic Ocean. Its range includes the
Baltic Sea
, the
North Sea
, southern Norway and Sweden, round the coasts of the British Isles, the Iberian Peninsula, Morocco, the
Mediterranean Sea
, the
Adriatic Sea
and the
Black Sea
. It occurs both in open water well away from the coast and in bays and estuaries, being able to tolerate salinities as low as 4 parts per thousand. It is a schooling fish and migrates between its winter feeding grounds and its summer breeding grounds. It also makes vertical migrations, rising to near the surface at night to feed.
[7]
Ecology
[
edit
]
Adult sprats feed on
copepods
such as
Calanus
,
Pseudocalanus
and
Temora
while juveniles feed on the eggs and larvae of these crustaceans, and on
diatoms
. Breeding takes place at any time of year but peaks between December and April in the Mediterranean and between April and August in the Baltic and northeastern Atlantic. Spawning may take place in inshore waters or up to 100 km (60 mi) off the coast.
[5]
This fish is sometimes parasitised by a copepod, the
sprat eye-maggot
(
Lernaeenicus sprattae
) which burrows into its eye and causes loss of visual acuity or even blindness. Heavy infestations can kill the fish.
[
citation needed
]
Uses
[
edit
]
Canapes
with smoked sprats, a common Russian
zakuska
There are substantial fisheries for this fish in various parts of its range. It is mostly caught by
trawling
and is made into fish meal, canned, smoked, and eaten fresh; cooking methods include pan-frying and broiling. It is used for feeding
mink
and juveniles are used for fish bait.
[3]
Young sprats are commonly known as brisling. Canned sprats (usually smoked) are available in many north European countries, including the Baltic states, Scandinavia, Ireland, Germany, Poland and Russia. The fish has about 10.5% fat in its flesh and is a rich source of vitamins and minerals.
[8]
Status
[
edit
]
This fish has large swings in its population size, particularly in the Mediterranean Sea and Black Sea. These may in part be due to the increasing dominance of the comb jelly
Mnemiopsis leidyi
which in turn may be related to increases in sea temperature
[
citation needed
]
. Landings by commercial fisheries in the Mediterranean and Black Seas fell in the 1990s but recovered in the next decade. The population size and trend of this fish is unknown and the
International Union for Conservation of Nature
is unable to assess its conservation status, listing it as "
Data deficient
".
[3]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Nedreaas, K., Florin, A.-B., Cook, R. & Fernandes, P. 2018. Sprattus sprattus (errata version published in 2019). The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2018: e.T198583A143833310.
https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-2.RLTS.T198583A143833310.en
. Downloaded on 08 January 2021.
- ^
a
b
c
Bailly, Nicolas (2018).
"
Sprattus sprattus
(Linnaeus, 1758)"
.
WoRMS
.
World Register of Marine Species
. Retrieved
10 August
2018
.
- ^
a
b
c
Nedreaas, K.; Florin, A.-B.; Cook, R.; Fernandes, P. (2018).
"
Sprattus sprattus
"
.
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species
.
2018
: e.T198583A143833310.
doi
:
10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-2.RLTS.T198583A143833310.en
. Retrieved
12 November
2021
.
- ^
C.Michael Hogan, (2011)
Sea of the Hebrides
Archived
May 24, 2013, at the
Wayback Machine
. Eds. P. Saundry & C.J.Cleveland. Encyclopedia of Earth. National Council for Science and the Environment. Washington DC.
- ^
a
b
c
"Sprat:
Sprattus sprattus
"
.
Fishes of the NE Atlantic and the Mediterranean
. Marine Species Identification Portal
. Retrieved
10 August
2018
.
- ^
"
Sprattus sprattus
(Linnaeus, 1758)"
. FishBase
. Retrieved
10 August
2018
.
- ^
"
Sprattus sprattus
(Linnaeus, 1758)"
.
Species Fact Sheets
. FAO
. Retrieved
10 August
2018
.
- ^
"Sprat, raw"
.
FoodData
. DTU food
. Retrieved
11 August
2018
.