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Encrasicholina punctifer Fowler, 1938

Description

Dorsal spines (total): 0; Dorsal soft rays (total): 12 - 15; Anal spines: 0; Anal soft rays: 14 - 17. Belly rounded with 3 to 6 sharp needle-like pre-pelvic scutes. Maxilla tip blunt, scarcely projecting beyond second supra-maxilla, not reaching to front border of pre-operculum. Isthmus short, preceded by small fleshy plate on urohyal between branchial membranes. Anal fin short, its origin behind base of last dorsal fin ray.

Common Names

No common names available.

Taxonomic Hierarchy

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Class: Teleostei

Order: Clupeiformes

Family: Engraulidae

Genus: Encrasicholina

Species: Encrasicholina punctifer Fowler, 1938

Climate Zone

  • Tropical

    • Location

  • Indo-Pacific: Red Sea and Persian Gulf south to perhaps Durban in South Africa, Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka, and probably Burma. Also from southern Japan to China, Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia south to Brisbane, Australia, Japan eastward to Hawaii, the Solomon Islands, Fiji, Samoa and Tahiti.

    • Biology

    Epipelagic (Ref. 58302). A schooling species found inshore and in oceanic waters, hundreds of miles from land. Sometimes entering large atoll lagoons or deep, clear bays. Ranks among the most important food (bait) for tuna and other large pelagic fishes (Ref. 1602). Processed into nuoc-mam, a kind of fish pickle, in Indo-China (Ref. 4929).

    Habitat

    associated

    Conservation Status

    Least Concern

    Threat to Humans

    Harmless