Herrings and Anchovies: Order Clupeiformes

A Swedish food fish

Fish if this family, like the herring are not restricted to food for scandinavians. However, these fish are extremely popular in northern Europe. The order Clupeiformes contains 300 species of ray-finned fishes including herrings, anchovies, sardines, shads, menhadens and noodlefishes. These small marine fish are some of the most important food fishes in the sea - not only for higher trophic levels, but also for humans. Herring is a typically swedish food fish.

What do clupeiformes eat?

Young herrings, which typify members of this order, will feed on phyotoplankton. As they get older they will start to eat zooplankton and other small organisms found in oceanic surface waters. Feeding doesn't happen in the day, however. In fact, most of the day is spent in the deep, dark subsurface waters. At night, they migrate to the surface to feed. Like other members of the order, they swim with their mouths open. This allows them to filter plankton from the water as they pass over their gills.

What eats clupeiform fishes?

Fish in the order Clupeiformes, like herring and anchovies, are a core part of many marine food webs. These small fish are often eaten by larger fish like salmon or tuna. They are also preyed upon by whales, sharks, and ocean birds.

Fun Facts about Herrings and Anchovies

Herring scales are used to give pearly lipstick and nail polish their shimmer. So far, scientists have not been able to produce a synthetic substance with the same effect.
Herring outnumber people. In the ocean, schools of herring can extend for miles and contain billions of fish.
Herring stocks are in decline all around the world.
Male wolf herrings are the largest herrings with an average length of about 39 inches.
There is only one type of herring with a lateral line (the series of pores on a fish's body used for sensing vibrations). All others have lost this sense organ.
Anchovies are known to concentrate domoic acid, which causes amnesic shellfish poisoning in humans, sea mammals, and birds.

Classification

The order Clupeiformes consists of 300 species in the following 6 families.

Denticiptidae - denticle herring - (1 species) - This species is found in the rivers of western Africa.
Engraulidae - anchovies - (140 species) - Anchovies have much larger mouths.
Pristigasteridae - pristigasterids - (37 species) - Species have a long anal fin
Chirocentridae - wolf herrings - (2 species) - Both species reach lenghts of over 1 meter.
Clupeidae - herrings, menhadens, sardines, shads - (118 species) - Including some of the most popular food fishes
Sundasalangidae - Sundaland noodlefishes - (2 species) - These two freshwater species are found in Borneo and southern Thailand.