Silver sprat :

English Name : Silver sprat
Local Name : Rehi
Size : Max. 9.5 cm
Family : Order : Specimen :
CLUPEIDAE Clupeiformes MRS/0031/86
Distinctive Characters: Slender body. Pectoral fin short and is slightly shorter than eye and snout together. Body covered with thin, comparatively large scales. - Head scale-less. Belly without scutes.
Colour: Dark blue dorsally, silvery white ventrally. A very distinct silvery lateral band from operculum extends to the base of caudal fin.
Habitat and Biology: Pelagic and usually inshore, occurs in large schools within the atolls.
Distribution: Indo-Pacific.
Remarks: Spratelloides gracilis is one of the most widely used bait for pole and line tuna fishing and it is very much preferred over other species of bait in the - Maldives. On the eastern side of Maldives it is commonest during the southwest monsoon, while on the western side it is commonest during the northeast monsoon. This species was previously recorded as S. japonicus.

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