A small silver schooling fish. Once-massive populations crashed in the 1940s (the basis of John Steinbeck's Cannery Row), recovered, then crashed again in 2015. Forage-fish keystone for seabirds, marine mammals, and predatory fish.
§ Quick facts
§ Encyclopedia
Sardinops is a genus of sardines of the family Alosidae. Often considered monotypic with only member as Sardinops sagax, it currently has three valid species:Sardinops melanosticta (Temminck & Schlegel, 1846) Sardinops ocellatus (Pappe, 1853) Sardinops sagax (Jenyns, 1842) Sardinops sagax caeruleus (Girard, 1854) Sardinops sagax musica (Girard, 1855) Sardinops sagax neopilchardus (Steindachner, 1879)
Source: Wikipedia — Sardinops Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
§ Identification
Field marks. Slender silvery fish with bluish back; row of small dark spots along midline; small scales.
Similar species. Pacific Herring (no spots; larger). Northern Anchovy (smaller; different shape).
Voice. Silent.
§ Diet & behavior
Diet. Zooplankton, phytoplankton.
Behavior. Once-massive populations crashed in 1940s (basis of John Steinbeck's Cannery Row); recovered, then crashed again in 2015. Forage-fish keystone for west-coast seabirds, marine mammals, and predatory fish. Population swings have driven entire west-coast fishing economies up and down for over a century.
§ Range
Pacific coast from Alaska to Baja California
§ Habitat
Coastal Pacific surface waters
§ Threats
Boom-bust ocean cycles, overfishing, climate-driven ocean warming.
§ Conservation status
According to the IUCN Red List, the pacific sardine is currently classified as Least Concern.
§ What helps
Buy MSC-certified sardines. Support precautionary forage-fish management.
§ Further reading
- Wikipedia — Sardinops
- www.nwf.org — authoritative profile of Sardinops sagax
- IUCN Red List · taxon 190862
- iNaturalist · taxon 49441
- GBIF occurrence records
- Encyclopedia of Life — Sardinops sagax
§ Sources cited
- Pacific Fishery Management Council
- NOAA Fisheries
- Cannery Row Foundation
- IUCN Red List 2018
