The body is rather long, slender and moderately flattened. The mouth is protrusible, directed upward with small teeth; the head and body are scaly.
The lower jaw has an upper expansion within the mouth (high dentary bone).
Two separate dorsal fins, all rays of first and 1-2 anterior rays of second dorsal fin are unsegmented, with the remaining rays segmented. The anal fin is similar to the second dorsal fin, while the caudal fin is forked. Body is silverish white, darker on the back, with the light blue horizontal stripe extending to the tail.[2]
The major small-scale fishing gears exploiting this species are the various coastal beach seines, small mesh size (10 mm) gill nets and lift-nets. Rarely it can be caught on very small hook, baited with small chunks of fish meat. Live Mediterranean sand smelt is excellent bait for many predatory species that feed on this gregarious fish.[2]
Cuisine
The meat is mostly deep fried with larger specimens sometimes prepared as part of mixed fish stew or soup.[2]
References
^Papakonstantinou, C.; Pollard, D.; Massuti, E.; Palmeri, A. & Keskin, Ç. (2011). "Atherina hepsetus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2011: e.T194990A8936081. Retrieved 16 July 2019.
^ abcFroese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.) (2006). "Atherina hepsetus" in FishBase. February 2006 version.
^J.C. Hureau. "Fishes of the NE Atlantic and the Mediterranean". Marine Species Identification Portal. p. Sand smelt (Atherina hepsetus). Retrieved 16 July 2019.
Review of Croatian selected scientific literature on species mostly exploited by the national small-scale fisheries PDF file on FAOAdriaMed.org
External links
Photos of Mediterranean sand smelt on Sealife Collection
August 18, 2023
mediterranean, sand, smelt, atherina, hepsetus, species, fish, family, atherinidae, conservation, statusleast, concern, iucn, scientific, classificationdomain, eukaryotakingdom, animaliaphylum, chordataclass, actinopterygiiorder, atheriniformesfamily, atherini. The Mediterranean sand smelt Atherina hepsetus is a species of fish in the family Atherinidae Mediterranean sand smeltMediterranean sand smeltConservation statusLeast Concern IUCN 3 1 1 Scientific classificationDomain EukaryotaKingdom AnimaliaPhylum ChordataClass ActinopterygiiOrder AtheriniformesFamily AtherinidaeGenus AtherinaSpecies A hepsetusBinomial nameAtherina hepsetusLinnaeus 1758 Contents 1 Description 2 Habitat 3 Fishing 4 Cuisine 5 References 6 External linksDescription Edit Atherina hepsetusThe body is rather long slender and moderately flattened The mouth is protrusible directed upward with small teeth the head and body are scaly The lower jaw has an upper expansion within the mouth high dentary bone Two separate dorsal fins all rays of first and 1 2 anterior rays of second dorsal fin are unsegmented with the remaining rays segmented The anal fin is similar to the second dorsal fin while the caudal fin is forked Body is silverish white darker on the back with the light blue horizontal stripe extending to the tail 2 The maximum size is up to 20 cm in length 3 Although rather small as a carnivorous species it feeds on pelagic copepods and benthic crustaceans 3 In the Mediterranean it spawns from December to May 4 Habitat EditIt is a pelagic neritic brackishwater marine fish widespread in the eastern Atlantic coasts of Spain and Morocco including Madeira and the Canary Islands It is also found in the western Mediterranean Adriatic and Black Seas 3 Fishing EditThe major small scale fishing gears exploiting this species are the various coastal beach seines small mesh size 10 mm gill nets and lift nets Rarely it can be caught on very small hook baited with small chunks of fish meat Live Mediterranean sand smelt is excellent bait for many predatory species that feed on this gregarious fish 2 Cuisine EditThe meat is mostly deep fried with larger specimens sometimes prepared as part of mixed fish stew or soup 2 References Edit Papakonstantinou C Pollard D Massuti E Palmeri A amp Keskin C 2011 Atherina hepsetus IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2011 e T194990A8936081 Retrieved 16 July 2019 a b c Mediterranean Sand Smelt Atherina Hepsetus www seafishinghowto com Retrieved 16 July 2019 a b c Froese Rainer Pauly Daniel eds 2006 Atherina hepsetus in FishBase February 2006 version J C Hureau Fishes of the NE Atlantic and the Mediterranean Marine Species Identification Portal p Sand smelt Atherina hepsetus Retrieved 16 July 2019 Review of Croatian selected scientific literature on species mostly exploited by the national small scale fisheries PDF file on FAOAdriaMed orgExternal links EditPhotos of Mediterranean sand smelt on Sealife Collection Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Mediterranean sand smelt amp oldid 1099921574, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
