Sierra Leone country information

Common names: Awefu, Bonga, Bongo
Occurrence: native
Salinity: brackish
Abundance: | Ref:
Importance: commercial | Ref:
Aquaculture: | Ref:
Regulations: | Ref:
Uses: live export: yes;
Comments: Known from Atlantic Ocean (Ref. 188, 3015, 12749, 118206) and Sierra Leone River (Ref. 5271, 5305). Together with Sardinella maderensis it is a primary fishing target of the 'Ghana boats' (Ref. 12749). Also Ref. 2993, 4743, 30305, 42792.
National Checklist:
Country Information: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/resources/the-world-factbook/geos/sl.html
National Fisheries Authority:
Occurrences: Occurrences Point map
Main Ref: Vakily, J.M., 1992
National Database:

Common names from other countries

Ethmalose d'Afrique, Sábalo africano, Бонга, ... more

Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Teleostei (teleosts) > Clupeiformes (Herrings) > Dorosomatidae (Gizzard shads and sardinellas)
Etymology: Ethmalosa: Greek, ethmos, -ou = sieve, also the ethmoides bone + Latin, alausa = a fish cited by Ausonius and Latin, halec = pickle, dealing with the Greek word hals = salt; it is also the old Saxon name for shad = "alli" ; 1591 (Ref. 45335).

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Marine; freshwater; brackish; pelagic-neritic; catadromous (Ref. 51243); depth range 0 - 50 m (Ref. 54436), usually 0 - 50 m (Ref. 54436). Tropical; 25°N - 8°S, 17°W - 14°E (Ref. 54436)

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Point map | Introductions | Faunafri

Atlantic Ocean: Eastern central Atlantic Ocean, from Dakhla in Western Sahara southward to Lobito Bay in Angola (Ref. 188, 5286, 81269, 81631), occasionally entering freshwater (Ref. 3509). Reports from Cape Verde Islands are based on an erroneous type locality for Clupea fimbriata by Bowdich (1825), which was later rectified as probably Gambia (Ref. 188, 5286, 94080).

Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: L_m 17.0 range ? - 18.5 cm
Max length : 46.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 1989); common length : 25.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 187); max. published weight: 1.0 kg (Ref. 1989)

Short description Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 0; Dorsal soft rays (total): 16 - 19; Anal spines: 0; Anal soft rays: 19 - 25; Vertebrae: 40 - 44. Diagnosis: Body fairly deep, compressed, scutes present along belly; upper jaw with distinct notch, into which tip of lower jaw fits; lower gillrakers long, fine and numerous, about 3 times as long as gill filaments, upper gillrakers bent sharply upward, V-shaped; pelvic fin rays with 1 unbranched and 7 branched rays; caudal fin tips long and pointed (Ref. 188). A faint dark spot behind gill cover, sometimes followed by others; dorsal fin tip black; caudal fin deep chrome yellow; golden tints on body (Ref. 188, 81269). Ethmalosa fimbriata resembles Sardinella aurita, Sardinella rouxi and especially Sardinella maderensis, but these are more slender, have a rounded upper jaw which is not notched and the upper gillrakers are not bent upward like an elbow (Ref. 188).

Ethmalosa fimbriata is found in fairly shallow coastal waters, lagoons and estuaries, and sometimes also in lower courses of coastal rivers, even more than 300 km up rivers (Ref. 187, 188, 81269, 81631). It feeds principally on phytoplankton, chiefly diatoms, filtered by the very fine gillraker sieve (Ref. 187, 188, 3166). It breeds throughout the year in waters of salinities 3.5-38 ppt, but with peaks in at least some areas; spawns in the sea, in estuaries and in rivers (Ref. 188). The largest fisheries are in Senegal, Sierra Leone, Ivory Coast, Nigeria and Cameroon, mainly in the dry season (Ref. 188).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturities | Reproduction | Spawnings | Egg(s) | Fecundities | Larvae

Breeds all year in waters of salinities 3.5 to 38 ppt, but with peaks in at least some areas, becoming progressively later to south. Spawns in the sea, in estuaries and in rivers.

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator | Collaborators

Whitehead, P.J.P., 1985. FAO Species Catalogue. Vol. 7. Clupeoid fishes of the world (suborder Clupeoidei). An annotated and illustrated catalogue of the herrings, sardines, pilchards, sprats, shads, anchovies and wolf-herrings. FAO Fish. Synop. 125(7/1):1-303. Rome: FAO. (Ref. 188)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435)

Least Concern (LC) ; Date assessed: 30 April 2019

CITES (Ref. 128078)

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

Harmless

Human uses

Fisheries: highly commercial; aquaculture: experimental

FAO(Fisheries: production, species profile; publication : search) | FIRMS (Stock assessments) | FishSource | Sea Around Us

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Estimates based on models

Preferred temperature (Ref. 115969): 20.2 - 27.9, mean 26.4 (based on 180 cells).

Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804): PD₅₀ = 1.0000 [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].

Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00933 (0.00806 - 0.01080), b=3.05 (3.01 - 3.09), in cm Total Length, based on LWR estimates for this species (Ref. 93245).

Trophic level (Ref. 69278): 2.5 ±0.25 se; based on food items.

Resilience (Ref. 120179): High, minimum population doubling time less than 15 months (K=0.25-0.36; tm=1; Fec=16,000).

Prior r = 0.23, 95% CL = 0.15 - 0.34, Based on 1 full stock assessment.

Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153): Low vulnerability (21 of 100).

Climate Vulnerability (Ref. 125649): High vulnerability (60 of 100).

Price category (Ref. 80766): High.

Ethmalosa fimbriata (Bowdich, 1825)