Black Sea sprat

The Black Sea sprat or Pontic sprat,^[1] Clupeonella cultriventris, is a small fish of the herring family, Clupeidae. It is found in the Black Sea and Sea of Azov and rivers of its basins: Danube, Dnister, Dnipro (Ukraine), Southern Bug, Don, Kuban. It has white-grey flesh and silver-grey scales. A typical size is 10 cm (maximum 15 cm).^[4] The life span is up to 5 years.^[4] The peak of its spawning is in April and it can be found in enormous shoals in sea-shores, filled all-round coastal shallows, moving quickly back into the sea at a depth of 6–30 metres. Used for food; it has around 12% fat in flesh.

Quick Facts Conservation status, Scientific classification ...

Black Sea sprat
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Order:	Clupeiformes
Family:	Ehiravidae
Genus:	Clupeonella
Species:	C. cultriventris
Binomial name
Clupeonella cultriventris (Nordmann, 1840)[2]
Synonyms
Clupea cultriventris Nordmann, 1840 Clupea cultriventris tscharchalensis (non Borodin, 1896) Clupea delicatula Nordmann, 1840 Clupeonella cultiventris (Nordmann, 1840) Clupeonella delicatula (Nordmann, 1840) Clupeonella delicatula azovi Vladimirov, 1950 Clupeonella delicatula caspia (non Svetovidov, 1941) Clupeonella delicatula cultriventris (Nordmann, 1840)

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It is one of the most abundant fishes in the Sea of Azov. It is important prey for other fishes, particularly the pikeperch.^[5]

The Caspian tyulka Clupeonella caspia has been long considered a subspecies of C. cultriventris, C. cultriventris caspia, and a common name "Black and Caspian Sea sprat" was then applied to the whole.^[6][4]