Teleostei (teleosts) >
Clupeiformes (Herrings) >
Dorosomatidae (Gizzard shads and sardinellas)
Etymology: Hilsa: Bangladesh and Bengali local name for a fish.
More on author: Cuvier.
Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range
Ecology
Marine; freshwater; brackish; pelagic-neritic; anadromous (Ref. 51243); depth range 10 - ? m (Ref. 30573). Tropical; 25°N - 18°S, 43°E - 155°E (Ref. 54554)
Indo-West Pacific: probably all coasts of Indian Ocean, from Gulf of Oman and Gulf of Aden south to Durban and Madagascar, across the Bay of Bengal, Gulf of Thailand, Java Sea and north to Hong Kong and east to Papua New Guinea and possibly further (Ref. 188).
Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age
Maturity: Lm 15.0 range ? - ? cm
Max length : 35.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 11228); common length : 16.5 cm SL male/unsexed; (Ref. 188)
Dorsal spines (total): 0; Dorsal soft rays (total): 16 - 19; Anal spines: 0; Anal soft rays: 17 - 23. Diagnosis: Body fairly deep and compressed, belly with distinct keel of scutes; top of head with numerous fronto-parietal striae; upper jaw with median notch; gillrakers about 100 to 175, those on inner arches distinctly curled; outer row of gill filaments on first arch not more than half length of gillrakers; a series of small triangular scales above axil of pectoral fin; hind part of body scales perforated (Ref. 188). A black spot behind gill cover, usually followed by up to 10 spots along flank (Ref. 188).
Found in coastal waters (Ref. 3107, 30573); marine, pelagic, but entering estuaries and able to tolerate quite low salinities (7 ppt) (Ref. 188). Feeds chiefly on phytoplankton, mainly diatoms, also dinoflagellates, but also copepods, molluscan and crustacean larvae, prawns, amphipods and polychaetes (Ref. 188). Spawns, at least in Godavari estuary, around February (Ref. 188). Marketed fresh, dried, dried-salted and boiled. Made into fish balls.
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: Version 2024-1)
Threat to humans
Harmless
Human uses
Fisheries: highly commercial; bait: occasionally
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Estimates based on models
Preferred temperature (Ref.
123201): 25.8 - 29.1, mean 28.3 °C (based on 772 cells).
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref.
82804): PD
50 = 1.0000 [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.01023 (0.00643 - 0.01629), b=3.03 (2.90 - 3.16), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this species & (Sub)family-body (Ref.
93245).
Trophic level (Ref.
69278): 2.9 ±0.33 se; based on food items.
Generation time: 1.0 ( na - na) years. Estimated as median ln(3)/K based on 1
growth studies.
Resilience (Ref.
120179): High, minimum population doubling time less than 15 months (K=1.1).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref.
59153): Low vulnerability (18 of 100).
Climate Vulnerability (Ref.
125649): High to very high vulnerability (71 of 100).
Nutrients (Ref.
124155): Calcium = 204 [116, 375] mg/100g; Iron = 2.01 [1.12, 3.29] mg/100g; Protein = 19.2 [18.1, 20.2] %; Omega3 = 0.411 [0.231, 0.728] g/100g; Selenium = 61.5 [30.1, 125.8] μg/100g; VitaminA = 9.95 [4.03, 23.19] μg/100g; Zinc = 1.78 [1.25, 2.60] mg/100g (wet weight);
