Clupeiformes - AccessScience from McGraw-Hill Education http://www.accessscience.com/content/clupeiformes/142500 Article by: Bailey, Reeve M. Formerly, Division of Fishes, Museum of Zoology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan. Boschung, Herbert Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Publication year: 2014 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1036/1097-8542.142500 (http://dx.doi.org/10.1036/1097-8542.142500) Content Denticipitidae Distribution and ecology Additional Readings Clupeoidei Bibliography The single order of the teleost fishes in the subdivision Clupeomorpha. Clupeiforms, including anchovies, herrings, sardines, shads, and allies, are classified in two suborders, five families, 83 genera, and about 357 species. A unique feature of clupeiforms is the ear-swim bladder connection (otophysic connection) composed of a pair of anterior extensions of the swim bladder that enter the skull to connect with the utriculus of the inner ear. They are further distinguished by a series of median scutes (keel-like scales) along the abdomen before and behind the pelvic fin (some species have predorsal scutes as well as ventral scutes), and a single scute is present at the insertion of the pelvic fins. The body is compressed in most species; fin spines are lacking, as are an adipose fin and gular plate; the jaws are not protractile; the pelvic fins are abdominal in position and free from the shoulder girdle; the pectoral fin is placed low on the side; and a mesocoracoid arch is present; the upper jaw is bordered by premaxillae and maxillae, but the detention is usually feeble; the cycloid scales are usually thin and loosely attached, especially in anchovies; the air bladder is connected to the gut (physostomous); and there is no leptocephalus larva. Clupeiforms are mostly silvery and typically occur in large schools, feeding on plankton that is strained from the water by numerous long gill rakers. A notable exception is the wolf herring (Chirocentrus) of the Indo-Pacific, which is a predator with strong teeth. Some of the great fisheries of the world are based on the conversion of plankton by clupeiform fishes. These include the tremendous anchovy fishery off western South America, the California fisheries for anchovy and (until depleted) Pacific sardine, the menhaden fisheries of the western Atlantic, and the herring and sardine fisheries of northern seas. The catch is processed variously into oil, fertilizer, or fish meal or is prepared directly for human consumption. Indirectly, clupeiforms are of tremendous importance in the food cycles of piscivorous fishes and of some sea birds which depend on them as dietary staples. Clupeiform fishes have left a rich fossil record, especially from the Upper Cretaceous to the early Tertiary, but appeared first in the Upper Jurassic. Denticipitidae This family, in the suborder Denticipitoidei, comprises one fossil species, probably from the Miocene, and one extant species, Denticeps clupeoides (denticle herring), known from the coastal rivers of Nigeria and Cameroon. It differs from other 1 of 4 8/11/2015 10:07 AM Clupeiformes - AccessScience from McGraw-Hill Education http://www.accessscience.com/content/clupeiformes/142500 clupeiforms in having a complete lateral line, denticles variously placed on the skull and branchiostegal rays, and 16 principal caudal fin rays. Clupeoidei This suborder comprises the remainder of the clupeiforms and is distinguished by the lateral line not extending onto the body, but essentially limited to a cephalic canal system extending onto the operculum; and 19 principal caudal fin rays. Engraulidae Anchovies, which make up this family, are for the most part small, delicate fishes that have a conical snout overhanging a large mouth (see illustration). The maxilla is extremely long, reaching beyond the large eye and often to the margin of the operculum. Gill rakers are long and numerous; teeth are absent in jaws of most species—however, the large piscivorous species have large jaw teeth. Scales are thin and cycloid and usually deciduous, even when carefully handled. There are 16 genera and 139 species, with about 17 species occurring in freshwater and the rest in the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific oceans. Thirty species occur in North American waters, 23 of which are in the genus Anchoa. Most of the freshwater species are from South America. Commerson's anchovy (Stolephorus commersonnii). Maximum size approximately 10 cm (4 in.). (Photo copyright © by John E. Randall) Pristigasteridae In this family the mouth is superior in most species; otherwise it is terminal; jaw teeth are small (one genus has canine teeth); abdominal scutes are present; and the anal fin is long, with 30 to 92 rays. This family comprises nine genera and 34 species. Four species are freshwater and the rest occur in tropical and subtropical Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific oceans. Five species occur on the Pacific coast of Mexico. Chirocentridae (wolf herring) This family consists of only one genus and two species that are characterized by an elongate, highly compressed body and fanglike jaw teeth. It has a spiral valve in the intestine, an uncommon feature for a teleost fish. The pelvic fin is small, the scales are small; the pelvic scute is reduced; and abdominal scutes are absent. These fishes occur in the western Pacific and the western Indian oceans to South Africa and the Red Sea. Clupeidae This family includes herrings, shads, sardines, sprats, pilchards, and menhadens. Two long, rodlike postcleithra distinguish most members of this family from other clupeiforms. In addition, the mouth is terminal and abdominal scutes are present, 2 of 4 8/11/2015 10:07 AM Clupeiformes - AccessScience from McGraw-Hill Education http://www.accessscience.com/content/clupeiformes/142500 except in the subfamily Dussumieriinae (round herrings). The family is composed of five subfamilies, 50 genera, and 181 species, 50 of which occur in freshwater, some of which are anadromous. The rest are marine species that occur worldwide, mostly in tropical waters. Eleven genera and 33 species occur in North American waters. Distribution and ecology Some herrings and a few anchovies live in lowland rivers and lakes, and others such as the shad and alewife enter rivers to reproduce; but the majority of clupeiforms occur in bays or shore waters of tropical, temperate, or even northern seas, where they commonly make up enormous schools. None inhabits deep water. Most clupeiforms feed on plankton or other minute organisms, thus they are efficient converters from the base of the food chain to fish flesh. Reeve M. Bailey Herbert Boschung Bibliography L. Grande, Recent and fossil clupeomorph fishes with materials for revision of the subgroups of clupeoids, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., 181(2):231–372, 1985 J. S. Nelson, Fishes of the World, 4th ed., Wiley, New York, 2006 J. E. Nelson et al., Common and Scientific Names of Fishes from the United States, Canada, and Mexico, American Fisheries Society Spec. Publ. 29, Bethesda, 2004 P. J. P. Whitehead, FAO Species Catalogue, vol. 7: Clupeoid Fishes of the World (Suborder Clupeoidei), Part 1: Chirocentridae, Clupeidae and Pristigasteridae, FAO Fish. Synop. (125), 1985 P. J. P. Whitehead, G. J. Nelson, and T. Wongratana, FAO Species Catalogue, vol. 7: Clupeoid Fishes of the World (Suborder Clupeoidei), Part 2: Engraulididae, FAO Fish. Synop. (125), 1988 Additional Readings R. Arai, Fish Karyotypes: A Check List, Springer, New York, 2011 T. Miyashita, Unique occipital articulation with the first vertebra found in pristigasterids, chirocentrids, and clupeids (Teleostei, Clupeiformes, Clupeoidei), Ichthyol. Res., 57(2):121–132, 2010 DOI: 10.1007/s10228-009-0132-z (http://dx.doi.org/10.1007 /s10228-009-0132-z) L. N. Padovani, M. D. Vinas, and M. Pájaro, Importance of the Río de la Plata estuarine front (southwestern Atlantic Ocean) in the feeding ecology of Argentine anchovy, Engraulis anchoita (Clupeiformes, Clupeidae), Lat. Am. J. Aquat. Res., 39(2):205–213, 2011 DOI: 10.3856/vol39-issue2-fulltext-2 (http://dx.doi.org/10.3856/vol39-issue2-fulltext-2) K. Venkataraman, C. Raghunathan, and C. Sivaperuman, Ecology of Faunal Communities on the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Springer, New York, 2012 3 of 4 8/11/2015 10:07 AM .