Actinopterygii (ray-finned fishes) > Clupeiformes
(Herrings) > Pristigasteridae
Etymology: Opisthopterus: Greek, opisthe = behind + Greek, pteron = wing. Fin (Ref. 45335).
Environment / Climate / Range
Marine; brackish; pelagic-neritic; amphidromous (Ref. 51243). Tropical; 29°N - 8°S, 55°E - 118°E (Ref. 188)
Size / Weight / Age
Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 20.0 cm SL male/unsexed; (Ref. 12693)
soft rays: 51 - 63. Belly convex in front, with 29 to 35 scutes. Mouth pointing obliquely upward; lower gill rakers 22 to 28, increasing with size of fish. Pectoral fin usually about equal to head length or greater; dorsal fin small, well behind midpoint of body; anal fin long, its origin well before dorsal fin origin.
Indo-West Pacific: in tropical waters, from the Gulf of Oman to at least Madras, perhaps to the north and along the coasts of Myanmar, certainly at Penang, to the Java Sea, and Gulf of Thailand.
Found close to shore and also entering estuaries (e.g. Aluhaluh on Barito River in Kalimantan, Indonesia). Ascends rivers into the tidal zone (Ref. 12693). Feeds on mysids, Pseudodiaptomus and copepod eggs, also prawns and other small crustaceans, bivalve eggs and larvae, amphipods and small fishes. Spawns in late February or early March to July or August (around Karwar, India). Used as fish meal or fertilizer (Ref. 4832).
Whitehead, P.J.P., 1985. FAO Species Catalogue. Vol. 7. Clupeoid fishes of the world (suborder Clupeioidei). 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. 90363)
CITES (Ref. 94142)
Threat to humans
Fisheries: minor commercial
ReferencesAquacultureAquaculture profileStrainsGeneticsAllele frequenciesHeritabilityDiseasesProcessingMass conversion
CollaboratorsPicturesStamps, CoinsSoundsCiguateraSpeedSwim. typeGill areaOtolithsBrainsVision
Estimates of some properties based on models
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82805
= 0.5156 [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00912 (0.00407 - 0.02046), b=3.05 (2.86 - 3.24), based on LWR estimates for this Subfamily-body shape (Ref. 93245
Trophic Level (Ref. 69278
): 3.4 ±0.46 se; Based on food items.
Resilience (Ref. 69278
Vulnerability (Ref. 59153
): Low vulnerability (23 of 100) .