Sardinella maderensis (Lowe, 1839)

Edwards, A. J., Gill, A. C. & Abohweyere, P. O., 2003, A revision of F. R. Irvine’s Ghanaian marine fishes in the collections of The Natural History Museum, London, Journal of Natural History 37 (18), pp. 2213-2267 : 2229

Sardinella maderensis (Lowe, 1839)

Irvine name. Sardinella cameronensis Regan. A junior synonym.

Reference material. Teshi, June 1930 (Irvine 103)— BMNH 1930.8 .26.24 (one: 174 mm SL) .

Distribution. Coast of West Africa from Morocco to Angola (Whitehead, 1985). Also occurs in the Mediterranean.

On average about 105 000 tonnes of this species are caught in the region each year ( FAO, 2000), making it the one of the most important fishery species in terms of catch. Catches have recently doubled and current catch rates may not be sustainable.