Family Ehiravidae

Dwarf sprats

A small family of about 27 species in 11 genera. They are mostly small, tropical, and subtropical herrings, mostly found in brackish and freshwaters; few are of commercial importance. Ehiravidae includes several pure freshwater species, such as the Southeast Asian genus Sundasalanx, paedomorphic fishes reaching up to 30 mm SL. In West Asia, the only genus entering freshwaters is Clupeonella (tyulkas). They are a small group of brackish water species endemic to the Marmara, Black, and Caspian Sea basins where they frequently inhabit coastal lagoons,backwaters, and the slow-flowing sections of lower rivers. One species, C. abrau from Lake Abrau in Russia, is endemic to a small lake close to the coast. In freshwaters of West Asia, we recognise one species, C. cultriventris . Two additional tyulkas, C. engrauliformis and C. grimmi, are endemic to the Caspian Sea, both strictly marine and not reported to enter freshwater habitats. Clupeonella tscharchalensis is a freshwater species that inhabits rivers in the northern Caspian basin. It is described from Lake Chelkar (47°50′N 59°36′E) in Kazakhstan. Until further studies are conducted on tyulkas from Lake Chelkar, we classify C. tscharchalensis as a valid species with fewer gill rakers than C. cultriventris .

Further reading. Hoestlandt 1991a (diversity, distribution, biology); Kottelat & Freyhof 2007 (diversity).

Key to species of Clupeonella in West Asia

1a - Pectoral tip rounded; interorbital distance 13–15 % SL (42–51 gill rakers). ……………… C. grimmi

1b - Pectoral tip pointed; interorbital distance 16–18 % SL. ………………2

2a - Ventral keel soft; body depth 16–19 % SL; 56–67 gill rakers. ……………… C. engrauliformis

2b - Ventral keel hard; body depth 18–25 % SL; 49–62 gill rakers. ……………… C. cultriventris