Herring

Body moderately deep, belly with 30 to 31 scutes. A median notch on upper jaw distinguishes it from other similar clupeids, except Hilsa kelee. Gill rakers fine but not numerous. Caudal fin long, the lobes long and pointed. No series of dark spots along flank. Resembles T. toli, which has longer head but shorter tail; T. reevesii has many more lower gill rakers and a larger head.

A monandric species (Ref. 55367). Sex change occurs at a length of 19.0 cm TL and 0.9 year of age (Ref. 55367).

Anadromous. Fish that ascend rivers to spawn, as salmon and hilsa do. Sub-division of diadromous. Migrations should be cyclical and predictable and cover more than 100 km.

Dorsal spines (total): 0; Analspines: 0

Schooling in coastal waters and ascending rivers to breed. Feeds on zooplankton (Ref. 58784). Presumably its biology is similar to that of T. ilisha, but the fewer gillrakers suggest that it takes larger food organisms. A protandrous hermaphrodite (Ref. 55367).

fisheries: commercial