Atherina
| Sand smelt | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Atherina hepsetus | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Atheriniformes |
| Family: | Atherinidae |
| Genus: | Atherina Linnaeus, 1758 |
| Type species | |
| Atherina hepsetus Linnaeus, 1758 | |
Atherina is a genus of fish of silverside family Atherinidae, found in the temperate and tropic zones. Up to 15 cm long, they are widespread in the Mediterranean, Black Sea, Sea of Azov, Indo-West Pacific and Northwest Pacific in lagoons and estuaries. It comes to the low stream of the Dnieper, Southern Bug, Dniester, and Danube Rivers.
Species
There are currently 7 recognized species in this genus:
- Atherina boyeri A. Risso, 1810 (big-scale sand smelt)
- Atherina breviceps Valenciennes, 1835 (Cape silverside)
- Atherina hepsetus Linnaeus, 1758 (Mediterranean sand smelt)
- Atherina lopeziana Rossignol & Blache, 1961
- Atherina presbyter G. Cuvier, 1829 (sand smelt)
- Atherina valenciennei (Bleeker, 1854) (Sumatran silverside) [1]
- Atherina woodwardi (D. S. Jordan & Starks, 1901) [1]
Commercial importance
Species of Atherina are objects in the traditional Catalan, Occitan, south-Ukrainian, Turkish, and Greek cuisine in fried form. The fish are lightly powdered with wheat flour before being dropped in hot olive oil. In Ukraine and Greece, it is commercally important species.[2]