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Atherina boyeri Risso, 1810

Big-scale sand smelt
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Atherina boyeri   AquaMaps   Data sources: GBIF OBIS
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Image of Atherina boyeri (Big-scale sand smelt)
Atherina boyeri
Picture by Otel, V.

Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Teleostei (teleosts) > Atheriniformes (Silversides) > Atherinidae (Silversides) > Atherininae
Etymology: Atherina: Greek, atherina, the Greek name for the eperlane; 1770 (Ref. 45335).
More on author: Risso.

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Marine; freshwater; brackish; demersal; amphidromous (Ref. 59043); depth range 1 - ? m. Subtropical; 53°N - 20°N, 18°W - 42°E

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Point map | Introductions | Faunafri

Eastern Atlantic: Portugal and Spain to Nouadhibou in Mauritania and Madeira, and throughout the Mediterranean and Black Sea. Isolated populations on coasts of England and the Netherlands (Ref. 5980). Previously, two subspecies were recognized in Russian waters: Atherina boyeri pontica (Eichwald, 1838) from the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov and Atherina boyeri caspia (Eichwald, 1838) from the Caspian Sea (Ref. 26334).

Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm 5.8, range 5 - ? cm
Max length : 20.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 30578); max. reported age: 4 years (Ref. 59043)

Short description Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 7 - 10; Dorsal soft rays (total): 8 - 16; Anal spines: 2; Anal soft rays: 10 - 18. Eye diameter wider than snout length (Ref. 35388).

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

A very euryhaline species, where adults are frequently found in brackish waters and more sporadically in freshwater (Ref. 3788), preferring still or slow flowing waters in freshwater (Ref. 59043). They are found in lower parts of rivers, estuaries, coastal lakes and sea; pelagic in lakes (Ref. 59043). Adults occur in great schools. They are carnivorous, feeding on small crustaceans, worms, mollusks (Ref. 5980) and fish larvae (Ref. 35388) in lakes and estuaries, and on benthos in rivers (Ref. 59043). Can usually live 1 to 2 years, rarely up to 4 years. Some populations undergo spawning migrations into estuaries. Mature individuals are fractional spawners, larger individuals spawn for a longer period. Eggs are demersal, with long hairy appendages attaching them to the substrate consisting of filamentous algae, often at depths of 2 to 6 m. Larvae are pelagic often forming schools close to the shores (Ref. 59043).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturities | Reproduction | Spawnings | Egg(s) | Fecundities | Larvae

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator : Dyer, Brian S. | Collaborators

Maugé, L.A., 1990. Atherinidae. p. 604-605. In J.C. Quero, J.C. Hureau, C. Karrer, A. Post and L. Saldanha (eds.) Check-list of the fishes of the eastern tropical Atlantic (CLOFETA). JNICT, Lisbon; SEI, Paris; and UNESCO, Paris. Vol. 2. (Ref. 4499)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435)

  Least Concern (LC) ; Date assessed: 01 January 2008

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Harmless





Human uses

Fisheries: commercial
FAO - Fisheries: landings; Publication: search | FishSource | Sea Around Us

More information

Trophic ecology
Food items
Diet compositions
Food consumptions
Food rations
Predators
Ecology
Ecology
Population dynamics
Growths
Max. ages / sizes
Length-weight rel.
Length-length rel.
Length-frequencies
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Abundances
Life cycle
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Maturities
Fecundities
Spawnings
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Egg(s)
Egg developments
Larvae
Larval dynamics
Anatomy
Gill areas
Brains
Otoliths
Physiology
Body compositions
Nutrients
Oxygen consumptions
Swimming type
Swimming speeds
Visual pigment(s)
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Diseases / Parasites
Toxicities (LC50s)
Genetics
Genetics
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Estimates based on models

Preferred temperature (Ref. 123201): 13.9 - 21, mean 18.3 °C (based on 136 cells).
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804):  PD50 = 0.5312   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00575 (0.00479 - 0.00691), b=3.07 (3.01 - 3.13), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this species (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level (Ref. 69278):  3.2   ±0.36 se; based on food items.
Resilience (Ref. 120179):  Medium, minimum population doubling time 1.4 - 4.4 years (K=0.8; tm=1; tmax=4;).
Prior r = 0.57, 95% CL = 0.38 - 0.85, Based on 3 data-limited stock assessments.
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  Moderate vulnerability (44 of 100).
Climate Vulnerability (Ref. 125649):  Moderate vulnerability (44 of 100).
Price category (Ref. 80766):   High.
Nutrients (Ref. 124155):  Calcium = 134 [71, 293] mg/100g; Iron = 1.07 [0.63, 1.91] mg/100g; Protein = 20.4 [19.0, 21.6] %; Omega3 = 0.34 [0.18, 0.64] g/100g; Selenium = 14.4 [6.8, 32.4] μg/100g; VitaminA = 25.1 [8.8, 69.7] μg/100g; Zinc = 1.4 [0.9, 2.0] mg/100g (wet weight); based on nutrient studies.