Author: Valenciennes, 1847
FBname: Round sardinella
Comments: A coastal, pelagic, species preferring clear saline waters, usually with maximum temperatures below 24°C (Ref. 27121). Found inshore and near surface to edge of shelf and down to 350m, or perhaps even deeper; schooling and strongly migratory, often rising to surface at night and dispersing (Ref. 188, 6683). It is a cold water species, temperatures between 18-25°C, approaching the coast and shoaling near the surface in the period of upwelling, but retreating below the thermocline in the hot season, down to depths of 200 to 300m (Ref. 2945, 3259). It feeds mainly on zooplankton, especially copepods and larvae of mysids, but also some phytoplankton, especially by juveniles (Ref. 188, 27121, 86940). It breeds perhaps at all times of the year, but with distinct peaks; the breeding pattern is extremely complex, with two principal spawning periods in some areas (Ref. 188). There is no spawning in Black Sea (Ref. 6683). The juveniles tend to stay in nursery areas, but on maturity rejoin adult stocks in the colder offshore waters (Ref. 188). Trematode found in intestinal tract (Ref. 37032).