Sardinella

Sardinella is a genus of fish in the family Dorosomatidae found in the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans. They are abundant in warmer waters of the tropical and subtropical oceans. Adults are generally coastal, schooling, marine fish but juveniles are often found in lagoons and estuaries. These species are distinguished by their ranges and by specific body features, but they are often confused with one another. Fish of the genus have seven to 14 striped markings along the scales of the top of the head. The paddle-shaped supramaxilla bones are characteristic; they separate Sardinella from other genera and their shapes help distinguish species. They have paired predorsal scales and enlarged fin rays.

Sardinella

BEDO (Thailand) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · via Wikipedia/Commons. May be a photograph of a specimen, or an artist’s reconstruction — an interpretation of a skeleton, since colour and soft tissue are almost never preserved.

On record

Recorded, not inferred
Sits inside
ClupeinaePBDB
Diet
carnivorePBDB, for Clupeiformes
Life habit
nektonicPBDB, for Clupeiformes
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Clupeiformes

Time the record covers

At least 24 million years on record.

The record covers at least 27.3 Mya to 2.58 Mya. No occurrence read is dated outside 33.9 Mya to 11.7 ka.

Eocene — about 0 of 19 occurrencesOligocene — about 7 of 19 occurrencesOligoceneMiocene — about 9 of 19 occurrencesMiocenePliocene — about 1 of 19 occurrencesPleistocene — about 2 of 19 occurrences35–33 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences33–32 Mya — about 1 occurrence32–31 Mya — about 1 occurrence31–30 Mya — about 1 occurrence30–29 Mya — about 1 occurrence29–28 Mya — about 1 occurrence28–27 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences27–25 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences25–24 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences24–23 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences23–22 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences22–21 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences21–20 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences20–18 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences18–17 Mya — about 1 occurrence17–16 Mya — about 1 occurrence16–15 Mya — about 0.9 occurrences15–14 Mya — about 0.9 occurrences14–13 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences13–12 Mya — about 1 occurrence12–10 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences10–9.2 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences9.2–8.1 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences8.1–6.9 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences6.9–5.8 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences5.8–4.6 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences4.6–3.5 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences3.5–2.3 Mya — about 1 occurrence2.3–1.2 Mya — about 1 occurrence1.2–0 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences27.3 Mya2.58 Mya34.6 Mya0 Mya

19 occurrences of Sardinella on record, most of them in the Miocene. The Paleobiology Database records this as a living group. Bar height is expected occurrences, not a count: each fossil is spread across the span it is dated to, so a tall narrow bar means tight dating and a low wide one means loose.

When

19 occurrences

These are dates about fossils, not the animal: the record can only begin after it arose and end before it died out, so either end may reach further. Shares are expected occurrences: a fossil dated to a span is counted partly in each period it straddles. More on what this infers.

Found in

8 formations

Menilite — 49.42°N, 17.75°ETamiami — 27.34°N, 82.51°WTonasa — 5.05°S, 119.69°EIwami — 35.48°N, 134.27°EPshekha Horizon — 44.74°N, 39.81°ELindos Bay — 36.26°N, 28.17°ETsurevsky — 44.41°N, 39.79°EMount Harris — 45.15°S, 170.93°E

Loading coastlines…

The named rock units Sardinella has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 10 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Sardinella and its relatives

Miocene

Where Sardinella and its relatives were recorded in the Miocene.

Found in the same rock

540 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 17 sites for Sardinella, and this reads all of them. The number is how many of those sites it was catalogued from too. The 24 sharing the most are listed.

This is not a list of everything alive at the time. It is only what has come out of the same ground as this animal and been written down.

Entered from

13 references

Each of the 19 occurrences read was entered from one of these publications, ordered by how many each accounts for. This is not a search for papers mentioning the name. 1 further reference is not listed. Entries link to doi.org where the Paleobiology Database holds an identifier, and to its own record where it does not. Relayed as the Paleobiology Database holds them, not checked against what they resolve to.

Media and terms

Media content2

Picture of Sardinella

Credit
BEDO (Thailand)
Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

3D model

Source
Sketchfab
Licence
CC0 Public Domain
Commercial use
the licence allows it

Smithsonian Open Access and MorphoSource were not reached for this taxon, so this list is what the others held rather than everything there is.

The description on this site

Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0

This is what the site found, which is not the same as what exists.

Keep going

What may have been alongside itClupeinae through timeFormations of the MioceneThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. (Cuvier and Valenciennes 1847)