Sardinella lemuru Bleeker 1853

Body elongate, subcylindrical, its depth less than 30% of standard length, belly rounded. The pelvic finray count of i 8 distinguished S. lemuru from all other clupeids in the eastern Indian Ocean and western Pacific. Very closely resembles Sardinella longiceps (whose range it may overlap in the Andaman Sea), but head shorter (26 to 29% of standard length; cf.-29 to 35% in S. longiceps and lower gillrakers fewer (77 to 188 in fishes of 6.5 to 22 cm standard length; cf. 150 to 253 in S. longiceps of 8 to 15.5 cm, usually more than 180). A faint golden spot behind gill opening, followed by a faint golden midlateral line; a distinct black spot at hind border of gill cover (absence of pigment).

Eastern Indian Ocean (Phuket, Thailand, southern coasts of East Java and Ball; Western Australia) and western Pacific (Java Sea north to the Philippines, Hong Kong, Taiwan Island to southern Japan - see Remarks).

To 23 cm standard length, usually to 20 cm.

Coastal,pelagic, schooling, strongly migratory.Feeds on phytoplankton, also zoo plankton (chiefly copepods). In the Ball region spawning probably occurs at the end of the annual rainy season migration into the Ball Strait (usually September-February, but a peak mainly in December-January, at least judging by numbers caught), but the spawning grounds are not known. As in the case of the related species (Sardinella aurita, Sardinella longiceps ), spawning and major migrations appear closely linked with hydrological conditions (especially temperature), but sudden appearances or disappearances of shoals have no ready explanation. Spawning in the East China Sea reaches a peak in late March to May, but continues through August.

Of major interest in the East China Sea (100 000 t in 1971) mainly off southern Fujian and eastern Guandong provinces; and in Indonesia, the bulk of the catch being from the Ball Strait. The total catch since 1983 was 59 980 t (all from Indonesia). The total catch reported for FAO Statistics in 1999 was 161 470 t (all from Indonesia).