Sand smelt
Silverside ( Atherina presbyter )
The ears of corn or fish strips ( Atherina presbyter ) is a species of Old World silversides, which is prevalent in the Northeast Atlantic, the North Sea and the western Mediterranean.
Features
The ears of fish has a long and lean body and reaches a body length of 16 to a maximum of 20 centimeters, which he is more than four times as long as high. The top head has a diagonally upward -looking, upper permanent mouth. The body is translucent with gray-blue back and silvery white flanks, wearing a gray vertical stripes.
The dorsal fin is divided. The first dorsal fin has 7-8 hard fin rays, second dorsal fin sits above the anal fin and has a rigid beam and 12 to 14 soft rays. The anal fin has a hard and soft fin rays 14 to 16. The pelvic fins are breast constantly. In total there are 52 to 57 scales along the lateral line.
Dissemination
The silverside is found from the Kattegat through the North Sea and Britain to North Africa and the western Mediterranean in the northeastern Atlantic.
Way of life
Silversides live as a school of fish near the coast in depths up to 20 meters, where they occasionally penetrate into lagoons and in the brackish water of river mouths. They are mainly there to be found in the area of the surface and feed on fish larvae and plankton organisms.
The breeding season of the fish ranges from April to July. The 1.8 to 2.0 millimeter eggs are released into open water and hook themselves with fine threads of algae and stones. The larvae hatch at a length of about 7 millimeters. The maximum age is about 4 years.