Thryssa malabarica

Malabar thryssa
Conservation status
Data Deficient  (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Order:	Clupeiformes
Family:	Engraulidae
Genus:	Thryssa
Species:	T. malabarica
Binomial name
Thryssa malabarica (Bloch, 1795)
Synonyms
Clupea malabaricus Bloch, 1795 Clupea malabarica Bloch, 1795 Thrissocles malabaricus (Bloch, 1795) Thryssa cuvieri (Swainson, 1839)

Thryssa malabarica, the Gautama thryssa or Malabar anchovy, is a species of amphidromous ray-finned fish in the family Engraulidae. It is known as Balal parattaya බළල් පරට්ටයා in Sinhalese.

Description

It is distributed throughout the Indian Ocean of coast of India, Sri Lanka, and possibly Pakistan. It is a small schooling fish found at a depth of 20–50 m (66–164 ft). Maximum length does not exceed 17.5 cm (6.9 in). The dorsal fin lacks soft rays and there are 34 to 38 soft rays in the anal fin. There are 23 to 26 keeled scutes on the belly. The characteristic feature to identify the fish is the presence of a dark blotch behind upper part of gill opening, and spots on cheeks and paired fins. Gill arches are pinky orange in color.

References

• Anchovy