sprat

Sprattus sprattus

Clupeid Fish of African Waters

Temperate
Northern Hemisphere
Regional distribution
Atlantic Ocean
Africa
Fusiform
Compressed cross-section
Medium
Temperate fish

The European sprat (Sprattus sprattus), also known as the Baltic herring, brisling, brisling sardine, bristling, garvie, garvock, Russian sardine, russlet, skipper or whitebait, is a species of small marine fish in the herring family Clupeidae. It is found in European, West Asian and North African waters. The fish is the subject of fisheries, particularly in Scandinavia, and is made into fish meal, as well as being used for human consumption.

Class: Teleosts
Order: Herrings
Family: Clupeidae
Genus: Sprattus
Maximum length: 25.1 cm
Body shape: fusiform
Distribution: Northeast Atlantic: North Sea and adjacent waters as far north as the Lofoten Area and the west of the British Isles, and Baltic Sea south to Morocco; also in northern Mediterranean (Gulf of Lion and the Adriatic Sea) and Black Sea.
Conservation status: LCLeast Concern

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