9 November: Sprats

Happy Sprat Day to those who celebrate! Ten things you might not know about sprats.

1. Sprat is the common name applied to a group of forage Fish belonging to the genus Sprattus, in the herring family. The European sprat’s scientific name is Sprattus sprattus.

2. The European sprat was first described by Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the 10th edition of Systema Naturae.

3. Sprats are sometimes known by other names, including bristling, brisling, garvie, garvock, Russian sardine, russlet, skipper or whitebait (whitebait is not a species of fish but rather a culinary term for small, often juvenile fish that are cooked and eaten whole).

4. Sprats are not the same as Sardines. They are completely separate species, although they do belong to the same family.

5. The European sprat is shiny silver to Grey in colour with a forked tail. They can grow up to 16cm in length.

6. The young live in estuaries and shallow bays, the adults down to a depth of 50 metres or more. A sprat can tolerate salinities as low as 4 parts per thousand.

7. Breeding takes place at any time of year but peaks between December and April in the Mediterranean and between April and August in the Baltic and northeastern Atlantic. The average length of time from fertilization to hatching is about 15 days, although their development can be adversely affected by low temperatures.

8. Sprats can be found New Zealand, Australia, and parts of Europe. This includes the coasts of Britain and Ireland. The most widely studied populations are the ones in the Baltic Sea.

9. Their diet is entirely made up of zooplankton, which consists of tiny animals, including the eggs and larvae of larger fish like cod, which in turn will eat sprats if they survive to adulthood. Sprats are also eaten by seabirds like puffins and guillemots, as well as by Seals and Dolphins.

10. They are also eaten by humans, of course, and are rich in polyunsaturated fats. Sprats can be canned, salted, breaded, fried, boiled, grilled, baked, deep fried, marinated, broiled, and smoked.