Author: Linnaeus, 1758

Argentina sphyraena Linnaeus, 1758

Diagnosis: body fairly elongate. Eye about equal to snout; lower gillrakers 7-10; branchiostegal rays 6. Adipose dorsal fin present; pectoral fins low on body, with 12-15 finrays; anal fin far back, short. Scales thin, often missing, edges almost smooth; lateral line scales 50-54. Colour: back olive green, a prominent silvery stripe down flanks, belly greyish-white. Size: to 32 cm, but usually smaller.

Habitat: continental shelf to 450 m or deeper; relatively common, abundant in some localities; probably schools near bottom. Food: bottomliving polychaetes, molluscs and crustaceans, also pelagic invertebrates and fishes. Reproduction: winter and spring spawning in Mediterranean, March to July off British coasts; eggs and larvae pelagic.

Distribution: Atlantic coasts southward from northern Norway, also Faroes, Shetlands and southern Iceland; Mediterranean, mainly western parts but recorded also at eastern end (but not in Black Sea). Elsewhere, southward to 24° N along coast of West Africa.

Eggs, larvae and young stages. Schmidt, 1906: 10, pl. 1 (fig. 1423); 1918: 6, fig. | Sanzo, 1933: 26, fig. 24-31 .
Otoliths (sagitta). Schmidt, 1968: 9, pl. 1 (fig. 11).

Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Chordata
Subphylum Vertebrata
Superclass Gnathostomata
Class Osteichthyes
Order Clupeiformes
Suborder Salmonoidei
Family Argentinidae
Genus Argentina
Species Argentina sphyraena

Status in World Register of Marine Species

Accepted name: Argentina sphyraena Linnaeus, 1758

Scientific synonyms and common names

Argentina sphyraena Linnaeus, 1758

Synonyms:

Argentina Sphyraena Linnaeus, 1758, Syst. Nat., ed. X: 315 ('Habitat in Mari infero').
Argentina silus junior Risberg, 1835, Observ. Ichthyol.: 7 (Christiana).
Osmerus hebridicus Yarrell, 1839, Rept. Brit. Assoc. advanc. Sci., 8th meeting 1838, 7 (2): 109 (Bay of Rothsay, Isle of Bute, Hebrides).
Goniosoma argentinum Costa, 1844, Fauna Napoli, Pesci, 3, pl. 36 (no pagination) (nomen novum for Argentina sphyraena Linnaeus).
Argentina cuvieri Valenciennes, 1848, in Cuv. Val., Hist. nat. Pois., 21: 413 (nomen novum for Argentina sphyraena Linnaeus).
Argentina yarrelli Valenciennes, 1848, in Cuv. Val., Hist. nat. Poiss., 21: 418 (nomen novum for Osmerus hebridicus Yarrell).
Argentina hebredica: Nilsson, 1855, Skand. Fauna: 474.
Argentina sphyraena: Day, 1881, pl. 125 Fries et al., 1895: 917, fig. 230 Valiani, 1940: 125 Chapman, 1942a: 104 Cohen, 1958a: 108 Hallday, 1969a: 189, 1969b: 407, 1969c: 785.


Common names:

argentina [It]
argentine [En]
argentine [ Fr]
biqueirão branço [Pr]
bocón [Es]
caspata [Iw]
chaclet [Es]
Glassauge [De]
gourlomátis [Gr]
petite argentine [Fr]
pez plata [Es]
polido [Es]
srebrnica [Hr]
srebrnjak [Hr]
strømsild [Da]
strømsild [No]
sula de altura [Es]

Chapman, W. M. 1942a. The osteology and relationships of the Argentinidae, a family of oceanic fishes. J. Wash. Acad Sci., 32: 104-117.

Cohen, D. M. 1958a. A revision of the fishes of the sub-family Argentininae. Bull. Fla. St. Mus. biol. Sci., 3: 93-172.

Costa, O. G. 1844. Descrizione di Un nuovo pesce della famiglia de Gadini: 7, 3 pl. in Fauna del Regno di Napoli, Pesci 1, Gadoides.

Cuvier, G.; Valenciennes, A. 1828-1849. Histoire naturelle des Poissons, Paris-Strasbourg, 22 vol., 11030 p., 621 pl. (numb. 1-650).1,1828: xvi+573 p., pl. I-VIII [author: Cuvier]; 2, 1828: xxi+490 p., pl. 9-40 [Cuv.:1-238, 249-262, 387-490; Val. : 238-249, 262-386]; 3 April 1829: xxiii+500p., pl. 41-71 [Cuvier]; 4,1829: xxvi+518 p., pl. 72-99 [Cuvier]; S, 1830: xxviii+499 p., pl. 100-140 [Cuvier]; 6, 1830: xxiv+559 p., pl. 141-169 [Val. :1-425, 493-559; Cuv.: 426-491]; 7, 1831: xxix+531 p., pl. 170-208 [Cuv. :1-440; Val.: 441-531]; 8, 1832: xix+509 p., pl. 209-245 [Cuv. :1-470; Val.: 471-509]; 9, 1833: xxix+ 512 p., pl. 246-279 [Cuv. :1-198, 330-359, 372-427; Val. :199-329, 359-371, 429-512];10,1835: xxiv+482 p., pl. 280-306 [Val.]; 11, 1836: xx+506 p., pl. 307343 [Val.]; 12, 1837: xxix+507 p., pl. 344-368 [Val.]; 13, 1839: xix+505 p., pl. 369-388 [Val.]; 14,1840: xxii+464 p., pl. 389-420 [Val.]; 15,1840: xxi+540 p., pl. 421-455 [Val.]; 16,1842: xx+472 p., pl. 456-487 [Val.]; 17,1844: xxiii+497 p., pl. 487-519 [Val.]; 18,1846: xix+505 p., pl. 520-553 [Val.]; 19,1847: xix+544 p., pl. 554590 [Val.]; 20,1847: xviii+472 p., pl. 591-606 [Val.]; 21,1848: xiv+536 p., pl. 607-633 [Val.]; 22,1849: xx+532 p., pl. 634650 [Val.].

Day, F. 1880-1884. The Fishes of Great Britain and Ireland. London-Edinburgh, 2 vol., cxii+336 p., 5+7 fig., 92 pl. and 388 p., 87 pl. 1880:1(1):1-64, pl. I-XXVII; 1881: 1(2) (3): 65-240, pl. XXVIII-LXVIII; 1882: 1(4): 241-336, pl. LXIX-XCII; 2 (5) :1-96, pl. XCIII-CXVI; 1883: 2 (6): 97-176, pl. CXVII-CXXXII; 2 (7) :177-272, pl. CXXXIII-CXLVIII; 1884: 2 (8): 273-368, pl. CXLIX-CLXXIX.

Fries, B. F.; Ekström, C. U.; Sundevall, C. J. 1893-1895. A History of Scandinavian Fishes, rev. and compl. by F. A. Smitt, Stockholm & Paris, I, 1893: 1-566+viii, fig. 1-134; II, 1895: 567-1240, fig. 135-380; Atlas, Pt. I, 1893, pl. I-XXVII; Pt. II, 1895, pl. XXVII A-LIII.

Hallday, R. G. 1969a. Distribution and regional variation of Argentina sphyraena [Pisces: Isospondyli]. J. mar. biol. Ass. U.K, 49: 189-208.

Hallday, R. G. 1969b. Population parameters of Arpentina sphyraena [Isospondyli] from west of Britain. J. mar. biol. Ass. U.K, 49: 407 -431.

Lee, J. Y. 1963. Les argentines du Golfe du Lion, Argentina sphyraena L., Argentina leioglossa Val. Revue Trav. Inst. (scient. tech.) Pêch. marit., 27: pp. 189-194.

Linnaeus, C. 1758. Systema Naturae, ed. X, vol. 1, 824 p. Nantes & Pisces: 230-338. (Reprint, 1956, London.)

Nilsson, S. 1855. Skandinavisk Fauna. Fjerde Delen: Fiskarna, Lund: xxxiv+768 p.

Risberg, G. 1835. Observationes ichthyologicae. Lundae [not seen].

Schmidt, E. J. 1905-1906. The pelagic post-larval stages of the Atlantic species of Gadus, Part I. Meddr. Kommn Havunders., Ser.: Fisk., 1905, 1(4): 77 p., 16 fig., 3 pl.; Part II, ibid., 1906, 2 (2): 20 p., pl. I.

Schmidt, E. J. 1918b. Argentinidae, Microstomidae, Opisthoproctidae, Mediterranean Odontostomidae. Rep. Dan. oceanogr. Exped. Mediterr., 1908-1910, 2, Biol. (AS): 1-40, 23 fig., 4 charts.

Schmidt, W. 1968. Vergleichend morphologische Studie über die Otolithen mariner Knochenfische. Arch. FischWiss., 19 (1): 1-96, 184 fig., 25 pl.

Valiana, S. 1940. Contributo alla biometria e allo studio dell'alimentazione dei pesci (Argentina sphyraena (L.)). Boll. Pesca Piscic. Idrobiol., 16: 1-8.

Yarrell, W. 1836-1839. A History of British fishes, illustrated by nearly 400 wood-cuts, in two volumes, London, 1836,1: xxxvii+408 p., 2: 472 p., fig. n. num.; 1839, supplement: vi+48 p., fig. (2nd ed., 1841, with suppl.; 3rd ed., 1859, additional species by J. Richardson, 1: xxxviii+675 p., 2: 670 p., 522 fig.). Hallday, R. G. 1969c. Reproduction and feeding of Argentina sphyraena [Isospondyli] in the Clyde Sea area. J. mar. biol. Ass. U.K., 49: 785-803

You can continue searching for Argentina sphyraena on one of these Web sites:

Fauna Europaea (animals) | IOPI (plants) | NCBI (genetic)

Google | Yahoo | MSN | Wikipedia