Deep Herring
Escualosa thoracata
- Usual depth0–5 m
- Water temperature23–30 °C
- Best monthsJanuary
- How commonOccasional
Photo credit: (c) renjus box, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
About this species
The white sardine is a species of fish in the family Clupeidae. It was described by Achille Valenciennes in 1847. It is a tropical fish of the Indo-Pacific distributed from Thailand to Indonesia and Australia. Other common names include deep herring and northern herring.
Text from the Wikipedia article “Escualosa thoracata”, 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: 219 records
- February: 6 records
- March: 5 records
- April: 7 records
- May: 14 records
- June: 18 records
- July: 7 records
- August: 6 records
- September: 17 records
- October: 10 records
- November: 9 records
- December: 6 records
Depth and water temperature
Depth
Mostly recorded at 0–5 m · Deepest record: 5.5 m
Water temperature
Recorded in surface water of 23–30 °C
Photos
(c) Shaunak Modi, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) 🪶🐾☘️Nandan Sreejith🦌🍄🌍, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
Names and classification
- English
- Deep Herring, Northern Herring, White herring, white sardine
Names in 3 more languages
- Spanish
- sardina blanca
- French
- alose blanche
- Thai
- ปลากะตักแก้ว, ปลาเกล็ดเงิน
Other scientific names: Alausa champil, Clupea argyrotaenia, Clupea coval, Clupea macrolepis, Clupeoides lile, Clupoides lile, Esculaosa thoracata, Kowala coval, Kowala thoracata, Meletta lile, Rogenia argijrotaenia, Rogenia argyrotaenia
Similar species
- Goldstripe sardinella
Sardinella gibbosa
Spotted sardinellaAmblygaster sirm
Chacunda gizzard shadAnodontostoma chacunda
Bluestripe herringHerklotsichthys quadrimaculatus
hairback herringNematalosa come
- White sardinella
Sardinella albella
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).
- 494 open-data records from 1829 to 2023.
- Species data updated October 30, 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.