Spotted sardinella

Amblygaster sirm

Fish
IUCN: Least concern

Usual depth5–72 m
Water temperature23–29 °C
Best monthsMay, June, and November
How commonOccasional

Photo credit: (c) Sahat Ratmuangkhwang, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

About this species

Amblygaster sirm, the spotted sardinella, also known as the northern pilchard, spotted pilchard, spotted sardine, and trenched sardine, is a reef-associated marine species of sardinellas in the herring family Clupeidae.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Amblygaster sirm”, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the article

Where and when

Where it has been recorded

Worldwide

Loading the map

Best months

Worldwide (open data)

January: 4 records
February: 5 records
March: 8 records
April: 7 records
May: 23 records
June: 22 records
July: 4 records
August: 7 records
September: 8 records
October: 12 records
November: 16 records
December: 13 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 5–72 m · Deepest record: 139 m

0–10 m: 22 records
10–20 m: 3 records
20–30 m: 9 records
30–40 m: 10 records
40–50 m: 16 records
50–60 m: 0 records
60–70 m: 2 records
70–80 m: 2 records
80–90 m: 3 records
90–100 m: 1 records
100–110 m: 0 records
110+ m: 2 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 23–29 °C

22–24 °C: 1 records
24–26 °C: 20 records
26–28 °C: 66 records
28–30 °C: 64 records

Photos

Names and classification

English: Spotted sardinella, Northern Pilchard, Spotted Sardine, spotted sardinella, white sardinella

Names in 5 more languages

Spanish: sardinela manchada
French: Sardinelle tachetée
Japanese: Hoshiyamatomizun, ホシヤマトミズン
Thai: ปลาอกแรกลม
Simplified Chinese: 斑點鈍腹鯡, 沙丁魚, 苦瞭, 西姆圓腹沙丁, 西姆鈍腹鯡, 鰮仔

Other scientific names: Ambligaster sirm, Clupea pinguis, Clupea sirm, Sardinella leiogastroides, Sardinella sirm, Sardinops dakini

Similar species

Bleeker smoothbelly sardinella
Amblygaster clupeoides
Smoothbelly sardinella
Amblygaster leiogaster
Goldstripe sardinella
Sardinella gibbosa
Chacunda gizzard shad
Anodontostoma chacunda
Deep Herring
Escualosa thoracata
Bluestripe herring
Herklotsichthys quadrimaculatus

Sources and credits

Names and taxonomy: WoRMS (CC BY 4.0) and the GBIF Backbone (CC BY 4.0). Photos: iNaturalist observers, each under the licence shown (CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA).

Depth, temperature, months and maps: records from OBIS and GBIF under CC0 or CC BY.
Descriptions: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA, each linked to its article.
Conservation status as published by GBIF (IUCN Red List).
2,736 open-data records from 1792 to 2023.
Species data updated October 26, 2026.

Log what you see on your next dive

The free DiveHive diver app keeps your logbook with every sighting and shows what lives at the site you dive next.

Join the waitlist