European sprat
Sprattus sprattus (Linnaeus, 1758)
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Open encyclopedia reference
The European sprat (Sprattus sprattus), also known as the Baltic herring, brisling, brisling sardine, bristling, garvie, garvock, Russian sardine, russlet, skipper or whitebait, is a species of small marine fish in the herring family Clupeidae. It is found in European, West Asian and North African waters. The fish is the subject of fisheries, particularly in Scandinavia, and is made into fish meal, as well as being used for human consumption. When used for food, it can be prepared in various ways, including canning, smoking and frying.
Wikipedia contributors, European sprat; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T04:10:26.043553+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Sprattus sprattus (Linnaeus, 1758)
- Name authority
- (Linnaeus, 1758)
- Common name
- European sprat
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Teleostei
- Order
- Clupeiformes
- Family
- Clupeidae
- Genus
- Sprattus
- 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.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- gigaclassActinopterygii
- superclassActinopteri
- classTeleostei
- orderClupeiformes
- suborderClupeoidei Bleeker, 1859
- familyClupeidae Cuvier, 1816
- genusSprattus Girgensohn, 1846
- speciesSprattus sprattus (Linnaeus, 1758)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Sprattus. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Sprattus antipodum (Hector, 1872) | ClupeidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Sprattus muelleri (Klunzinger, 1879) | ClupeidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Sprattus novaehollandiae (Valenciennes, 1847) | ClupeidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Sprattus haleciformis Girgensohn, 1846 | ClupeidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Sprattus nitidus (Schwarzhans, 1980) | ClupeidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extinct |
| Sprattus fuegensis (Jenyns, 1842) | ClupeidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
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.
- https://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=126425 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. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.
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:4ZDQT. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.