Fish Identification Photos: Sardine (California Pilchard), Sardinops sagax sagax: The Sardine, or California Pilchard, is a very easy to identify due to a series of black dots along the middle of the first half of the body. It is not easily confused with other species. The Sardine, or California Pilchard, has a slender cylindrical body with a large oblique mouth. It is blue on the back, silver on the side, and white on the belly. The caudal fin is forked and the pelvic fin is in the middle of the body centered under the dorsal fin.

The Sardine, or California Pilchard, reaches a length of 16 inches with a 12 to 15 year lifespan. As a coastal pelagic species it can be found up to 600 feet deep in the water column. In Mexico, the Sardine, or California Pilchard, is found along both coasts of the Baja California peninsula, along the coast of the mainland as far south as latitude 29 degrees north, and around the Revillagigedo Islands.

The Sardine, or California Pilchard, is a member of the Clupeidae Family which includes herrings, menhadens, pilchards, piquitingas, sardines, shad, and threadfin herrings. In general, they are small, silvery, shallow-water fish, found in all cold and warm waters of the seas. They normally travel in schools that consist of hundreds to thousands of individuals. They feed primarily on zooplankton. They are characterized by scuted keels along the entire belly, a single dorsal fin in the middle of the body, anal fins that are well back with a short base, pelvic fins on the abdomen below the dorsal fin, pectoral fins that are low on the sides, and fins with no spines. Globally, 227 species of Clupeidae have been identified, of which only 11 are found in the tropical Eastern Pacific. For the genus Sardinops only one species resides in Mexican waters.

In the year 2000, the Sardine, or California Pilchard, was the number one commercial catch of Mexico with 460,000 tons collected. The Sardine, or California Pilchard, was abundant in California waters until the 1970s when it virtually disappeared. Its populations have remained large and consistent off central and southern Baja California and in the Midriff Island area of the Sea of Cortez.

The Sardine, or California Pilchard, can be found up to 150 miles from shore and travels in schools that contain hundreds of thousands to millions of individuals. It travels annually up to 600 miles between feeding and spawning. It is a mainstay of the diets of Heermann’s Gulls and Elegant Terns. Each year 500,000 Heermann’s Gulls and Elegant Terns gather for nesting on Isla Raza in the central Sea of Cortez, and they consume about 65 tons of these sardines each day.

Sardine (California Pilchard), Sardinops sagax sagax: Sardine, or California Pilchard, Sardinops sagax sagax: A very rare species to be caught in the surf zone, La Playita, San Jose del Cabo, Baja California Sur, Mexico, in March 2006, with a water temperature of 72 degrees, early morning in 5 to 10 foot water, as a bycatch by panguero bait salesmen using a cast net. Size approximately 4 inches. Description and photo courtesy of John Snow.