Sprat

This article is about fish. For the environmental care group SPRATS, see Sea Spurge Remote Area Teams. For the Australian database of threatened species known as SPRAT, see EPBC Act. For the surname, see Sprat (surname).

Salted sprats (Sprattus sprattus)
at Odesa bazaar in Ukraine
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Sprat is the common name applied to a group of forage fish belonging to the genus Sprattus in the family Clupeidae. The term also is applied to a number of other small sprat-like forage fish (Clupeoides, Clupeonella, Corica, Ehirava, Hyperlophus, Microthrissa, Nannothrissa, Platanichthys, Ramnogaster, Rhinosardinia, and Stolothrissa). Like most forage fishes, sprats are highly active, small, oily fish. They travel in large schools with other fish and swim continuously throughout the day.[1]

They are recognized for their nutritional value, as they contain high levels of polyunsaturated fats, considered beneficial to the human diet. They are eaten in many places around the world.[2] Sprats are sometimes passed off as other fish; products sold as having been prepared from anchovies (since the 19th century) and others sold as sardines sometimes are prepared from sprats, as the authentic ones once were less accessible. They are known for their smooth flavour and are easy to mistake for baby sardines.

  1. ^ Meskendahl, L., J.-P. Herrmann, and A. Temming. "Effects of Temperature and Body Mass on Metabolic Rates of Sprat, Sprattus Sprattus L." Marine Biology 157.9 (2010): 1917–1927. Academic Search Premier. Web. 26 November 2011. p. 1925 [1]
  2. ^ Sprats Fried in Batter