Atherina presbyter Cuvier, 1829

Description: head length more than four times in Tl. Dorsal finrays VII-IX, I + 11-14; anal finrays I l + 14-17. Scales in longitudinal series 52-57. Gillrakers 28-33. Vertebrae 46-52 (Morocco 46-49, the Netherlands 49-52).

Color: back is dark, brown- or green-grey, sometimes almost black. The silvery strip on sides of a body is not wider than one of some scales. Above a strip on a back there are fine dark spots of the wrong form.

Size: to 20 cm, usually 12-16 cm.

Habitat: littoral.

Food: carnivorous -small crustaceans, fish larvae.

Reproduction: midsummer in English Channel.

Behaviour: schooling, sometimes in low-salinity water. Seasona1-migrations along Atlantic coast.

Age: to 3-4 years. When 1 year old width is 7 cm (British Isles).