Bluestripe herring
Herklotsichthys quadrimaculatus
Valid name (FishBase; confirmed in Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes and WoRMS, October 2026).
- English
- Bluestripe herring
- Scientific
- Herklotsichthys quadrimaculatus
- Dhivehi
- ގުންބަޅަGumbalha
- Group
- Baitfish
- Maximum size
- Up to about 25 cm (standard length); commonly 10 cm
- Depth and habitat
- Coral reefs and reef-associated habitats, recorded from 0 to 13 m; also enters brackish water
- IUCN status
- LC · Least ConcernLeast Concern (LC), assessed 2017
Description
A small, slender herring with a blue-green back, silvery sides and, in life, a blue stripe along the upper flank with two small golden spots behind the gill cover. It schools by day in sheltered lagoons and along beaches, often under jetties, and moves into deeper water at night to feed on zooplankton. It is widely used as bait in Indo-Pacific tuna fisheries.
In the Maldives
Used as live bait in the Maldivian pole-and-line tuna fishery, where it is known as gumbalha.
Sources
- fishbase.se /summary/Herklotsichthys-quadrimaculatus.html
- fao.org /4/AD471E/AD471E00.htm
- dv.wikipedia.org /wiki/ގުންބަޅަ
- commons.wikimedia.org /wiki/File:Herklotsichthys_quadrimaculatus_white_background.jpg
Dhivehi name source: M.R.S. (1997) Fishes of the Maldives (FAO/BOBP MAG/21) gives 'Gumbalha' (Latin form). Thaana from the Dhivehi Wikipedia article 'ގުންބަޅަ' (derived from the MRS 1997 Dhivehi edition); it matches the Latin form.