| Synonyms | | | | Pellona iserti Valenciennes, 1847:307 (Accra). | | | Pellona gabonica Duméril, 1861:259, pl. 25, figs 3, 3a (Gabon). | | | Pristigaster dolloi Boulenger, 1902:271, pl. 30, fig. 3 (Banana, Congo). | | | Ilisha melanota Derscheid, 1924:278 (Congo mouth); Irvine, 1947:111 (Accra). | | | Ilisha africana Fowler, 1936:78, fig. 71 (Congo mouth; synon., descr.); Whitehead, 1967:112 (types of iserti, gabonica, dolloi, melanota); Idem, 1969:268 (type of africana); CLOFETA in press (complete synon.). |
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| FAO Names | | En - West African ilisha, Fr - Alose rasoir, Sp - Sardineta africana. |
| 3Alpha Code: ILI Taxonomic Code: 1211200112 |
| Scientific Name with Original Description | | | Clupea africana Bloch, 1795, Naturgesch.Aust.Fische, 9:45, pl. 407 (Accra, Ghana). |
| Diagnostic Features | | | Body moderately deep, compressed, belly with 25 to 27 + 7 or 8 sharp scutes. Eye large, lower jaw projecting. Dorsal fin at or before midpoint of body; pelvic fins small; anal fin long, with more than 40 finrays, its origin below dorsal fin base. Swimbladder with two short tubes passing back in the muscles on either side of haemal spines. Other clupeoid fishes in the area are more slender, have a much shorter anal fin and the lower jaw not strongly projecting. |
| Geographical Distribution | |
| | West African coasts and estuaries (northern parts of Senegal south to Baie de SaintBras, Angola, at 10°S). |
| Habitat and Biology | | | Marine, pelagic,along beaches and just off shore, down to about 25 m,also in lagoons and estuaries, penetrating into almost freshwater.Feeds on small planktonic animals (crustaceans, etc.). |
| Size | | | To 20 cm standard length, usually about 12 to 16 cm. |
| Interest to Fisheries | | Global Capture production for
Ilisha africana
(FAO Fishery Statistic) |  |   |
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No special fishery, but contributes to clupeoid fisheries (about 400 t marketed at Abidjan in some years). Mainly caught by trawl, but also in purse-seine. The total catch in 1983 was 4 005 t. The total catch in 1996 was 11 020 t, mainly caught in Ghana (7 343 t) and Sierra Leona (3 025 t) .The total catch reported for this species to FAO for 1999 was 4 608 t. The countries with the largest catches were Ghana (3 262 t) and Benin (671 t).
| |  Related Fishing Techniques |
| Local Names | | | ANGOLA : Fanhico (Portuguese). |
| DAHOMEY : Afléma (Fon), Kaflan (at Grand Popo), Kaflanvi (at Cotonou). |
| GHANA : Kanfla and variants (Fante), Tamtemire (Fante) . |
| GUINEA : Lati (Soussous). |
| IVORY COAST : Lala (Lake Elbrié). |
| SENEGAL : Nafran (Appolonien), Péténana juaba (Brignan), Rimbal (Ovolof), Tialimaro (Mandique). |
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Bibliography Whitehead, (i.e. CLOFETA, in press) gave 61 references up to 1981 covering taxonomic, biological and fishery literature. |
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