| Main Ref. | Whitehead, P.J.P., 1985 |
| Appearance refers to | |
| Bones in OsteoBase |
| Specialized organs | no special organs |
| Different appearance | males alike females |
| Different colors | males alike females |
| Remarks |
| Striking features | none |
| Body shape lateral (shape guide) | fusiform / normal |
| Cross section | compressed |
| Dorsal head profile | more or less straight |
| Type of eyes | more or less normal |
| Type of mouth/snout | more or less normal |
| Position of mouth | terminal |
| Type of scales | cycloid scales |
| Diagnose |
Body fairly elongate, more `herring-like' than `shad-like'. Gill rakers thin and straight, often closely packed and pointed, usually shorter than gill filaments. Teeth well developed in both jaws. Other Black Sea Alosa have more gill rakers (A. caspia 50 to 80 and A. pontica 47 to 66). Sardinella aurita is more slender, has many more gill rakers and i 8 pelvic fin rays. |
| Ease of Identification |
| Lateral Lines | Interrupted: No |
| Scales on lateral line | 0 - 0 |
| Pored lateral line scales | |
| Scales in lateral series | |
| Scale rows above lateral line | 0 - 0 |
| Scale rows below lateral line | 0 - 0 |
| Scales around caudal peduncle | |
| Barbels | 0 |
| Gill clefts (sharks/rays only) | |
| Gill rakers | |
| on lower limb | |
| on upper limb | |
| insgesamt | 33 - 46 |
| Wirbelzahl | |
| preanal | |
| insgesamt |
| Attributes | no striking attributes |
| Fins number | 1 |
| Finlets No. | Dorsal 0 - 0 |
| Ventral 0 - 0 | |
| Spines total | 0 - 0 |
| Soft-rays total | |
| Adipose fin | absent |
| Attributes | forked; more or less normal |
| Fins number | 1 |
| Spines total | 0 - 0 |
| Soft-rays total |
| Pectoral | Attributes more or less normal |
| Spines 0 | |
| Soft-rays | |
| Pelvics | Attributes more or less normal |
| Position abdominal beneath origin of D1 | |
| Spines 0 | |
| Soft-rays 9 - 9 |