round sardinella
{{Short description|Species of fish}}
{{Speciesbox
| image = Sardinella aurita New Jersey.jpg
| image_alt =
| image_caption =
| status = LC
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| genus = Sardinella
| species = aurita
| authority = Valenciennes, 1847
| synonyms =
| synonyms_ref =
}}
The round sardinella (Sardinella aurita) is a species of ray-finned fish in the genus Sardinella found in both sides of the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea.{{cite book|last=Whitehead|first=P. J.P.|title=Clupeoid fishes of the world (suborder Clupeoidei)|year=1988|publisher=United Nations Development Programme|location=Rome|isbn=978-92-5-102667-0|pages=93–95|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yRHGc1kL9QEC |author2=G. J. Nelson |author3=T. Wongratana}}
S. aurita went through a large boom in catch population around 1990. However, its numbers have been very stable through the last several years.{{cite report|website=FAO Corporate Document Repository|title=Report of the FAO Working Group on the Assessment of Small Pelagic Fish off Northwest Africa|publisher=Fisheries and Agriculture Department|year=2006}}
S. aurita inhabits warm waters. It is a small, pelagic species that lives in tropical and subtropical waters of the western and eastern Atlantic Ocean, the Pacific Ocean, the Mediterranean, and occasionally, the Black Sea. The gonads start to develop in April and are fully mature one month later. Plankton in spawning regions are full of eggs and larvae from the end of June into September.{{cite journal|last=Sabatés|first=Ana|author2=Paloma Martín |author3=Josep Lloret |author4=Vanesa Raya |title=Sea warming and fish distribution: the case of the small pelagic fish. Sardinella aurita, in the western Mediterranean|journal=Global Change Biology|year=2006|volume=12|issue=11|pages=2209–2219|doi=10.1111/j.1365-2486.2006.01246.x|bibcode=2006GCBio..12.2209S|citeseerx=10.1.1.509.8144|s2cid=55086206 }}
Diagnostic features
Sardinella aurita has a particularly elongated body, a relatively rounded belly, and a large number of fine gill rakers (up to 160). This is one of the largest Sardinella species, averaging {{cvt|23|to|28|cm}}. It has eight pelvic fin rays. It has frontoparietal stripes on the top of its head, a faint golden midlateral line, and a distinctive black spot on the hind border of the gill cover. It is often caught along with Sardinella longiceps, and the two are not easily distinguished.
Habitat
The fish prefer shallower waters around {{cvt|24|°C}}. It reaches depths of {{cvt|350|m|ft|-1}}. It is a schooling fish that feeds on phytoplankton and zooplankton such as copepods.
Fisheries
File:Round sardinella, capture production, thousand tonnes, 1950-2022.svg{{Cite web |title=Fisheries and Aquaculture - Global Production |url=https://www.fao.org/fishery/en/collection/global_production?lang=en |access-date=2024-05-06 |website=Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)}}]]
Fisheries for this species exist off the West African coast, in the Mediterranean Sea, and along the coasts of Venezuela and Brazil. Fishery numbers in 1983 totaled 1,983,000 tons.