Smoothbelly sardinella
Amblygaster leiogaster
Valid name (FishBase; confirmed in Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes and WoRMS, October 2026).
- English
- Smoothbelly sardinella
- Scientific
- Amblygaster leiogaster
- Dhivehi
- މާރެހިMaarehi
- Group
- Baitfish
- Maximum size
- Up to about 23 cm (standard length); commonly 18 cm (FishBase); MRS 1997 gives common to 15 cm; max. 23 cm
- Depth and habitat
- Open water over reefs and the atoll shelf, recorded from 0 to 50 m
- IUCN status
- LC · Least ConcernLeast Concern (LC), assessed 2017
Description
A slender sardine with a blue-green back, plain silvery sides with no spots, and a dusky dorsal fin. It forms schools in coastal waters, feeding on plankton near the surface. It closely resembles other Amblygaster sardines and is told apart mainly by its unspotted flanks and gill-raker counts.
In the Maldives
First recorded in the Maldives in the 1990s from experimental fishing. MRS (1997) suggests it may be more common than records indicate, simply because the usual Maldivian fishing gears do not catch it.
Sources
- fishbase.se /summary/Amblygaster-leiogaster.html
- fao.org /4/AD471E/AD471E00.htm
- dv.wikipedia.org /wiki/މާރެހި
- commons.wikimedia.org /wiki/File:Amblygaster_leiogaster.jpg
Dhivehi name source: M.R.S. (1997) Fishes of the Maldives (FAO/BOBP MAG/21) gives 'Maarehi' (Latin form). Thaana from the Dhivehi Wikipedia article 'މާރެހި' (derived from the MRS 1997 Dhivehi edition); it matches the Latin form.