Sardinella albella (Valenciennes, 1847)

Zainal Abidin, Danial Hariz, Lavoué, Sébastien, Mohd Abu Hassan Alshari, Norli Fauzani, Mohd. Nor, Siti Azizah, A. Rahim, Masazurah & Mohammed Akib, Noor Adelyna, 2021, Ichthyofauna of Sungai Merbok Mangrove Forest Reserve, northwest Peninsular Malaysia, and its adjacent marine waters, Check List 17 (2), pp. 601-631 : 609

Sardinella albella (Valenciennes, 1847)

Material examined. MALAYSIA • 1, 57 mm TL; Kedah State, Merbok, Pompang Sungai Merbok ; 05.664°N, 100.381°E; 6 Dec. 2018; Danial H. Zainal Abidin, Norli F.M.A.H. Alshari leg.; USMFC (5) 00007 . • 1, 75 mm TL; Kedah State, Kampung Batu Lintang, Pompang Batu Lintang ; 05.625°N, 100.394°E; 17 Jul. 2019; Sébastien Lavoué leg.; USMFC (5) 00009 .

Identification. Recently rediagnosed by Stern et al. (2016). A moderate-sized species of Clupeidae (maximum TL about 150 mm); body relatively deep, strongly compressed and fully keeled from isthmus to anus (scutes 30 or 31); mouth small, upward; no lateral line; last dorsal fin ray not filamentous; lower gill rakers 47–64 (on first gill arch); vertical striae on scales discontinuous, not meeting at centre; flanks and belly silver, dorsum dark grey-blue; a black mark at the dorsal fin base, a diffuse ovoid black mark behind upper part of gill opening.

Sardinella albella is similar to Sardinella gibbosa (Bleeker, 1849) occurring in the Merbok river estuary but it can be distinguished by its deeper body and lower number of scutes (31 or less vs. 32 in S. gibbosa ). Sardinella albella is a predominantly coastal marine species and a common species of Clupeidae caught in brackish ecosystems of this region ( Tongnunui et al. 2002). Otherwise, widely distributed in the Indo-West Pacific region ( Whitehead 1985).