scaled sardine

Open encyclopedia reference

The scaled sardine, Harengula jaguana, is a herring-like fish in the family Clupeidae. It is native to coastal waters of the western Atlantic Ocean, from the Gulf of Mexico (where it is known as the pilchard or whitebait) down to Brazil where it is called mata.

It has a solid back with dark streaks and usually a small dark spot at the upper edge of the operculum and sometimes one located at the shoulder. It grows up to 9 inches (23 cm) in length but typically is little more than half that size.

It is a fast-growing species, living only 12 to 18 months.

Scaled sardines are often referred to by anglers as greenbacks, though that common name can also refer to the Atlantic threadfin herring (or Atlantic thread herring). They can usually be caught with strings of wire loops known as minnow rings, sabiki rigs or by cast netting.

They are taken by anglers for use as bait or for personal consumption.

Wikipedia contributors, Scaled sardine; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T04:17:00.691149+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.

Identity & source status

Scientific name

Harengula jaguana Poey, 1865

Name authority

Poey, 1865

Common name

scaled sardine

Rank

species

Accepted status

accepted

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Chordata

Class

Teleostei

Order

Clupeiformes

Family

Dorosomatidae

Genus

Harengula

Extinction status

Not supplied by this source

Source habitat flags: Marine: yes · Freshwater: no · Terrestrial: no. These do not form a complete habitat description.

Classification family tree

Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.

1. domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
2. kingdomAnimalia
3. phylumChordata
4. subphylumVertebrata
5. infraphylumGnathostomata
6. parvphylumOsteichthyes
7. gigaclassActinopterygii
8. superclassActinopteri
9. classTeleostei
10. orderClupeiformes
11. suborderClupeoidei Bleeker, 1859
12. familyDorosomatidae Gill, 1861
13. genusHarengula Valenciennes, 1847
14. speciesHarengula jaguana Poey, 1865

Close classified relatives

These entries share the source’s genus, Harengula. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.

Browse 84 records assigned to Dorosomatidae.

Names & synonyms

Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.

Source literature & publication evidence

References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.

1. Poey, F. (1865). Peces nuevos de la Isla de Cuba. Repertorio Fisico-Natural de La Isla de Cuba, v. 1: 181–192, 1 pl. Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references

Origins, evidence & remaining research

Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.

Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record.

Dataset citation & attribution

This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11

Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.

Stable key: col:3JQR5. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.