European sprat

The European sprat , also known as brisling, brisling sardine, bristling, garvie, garvock, Russian sardine, russlet, skipper or whitebait, is a species of small marine fish in the herring family Clupeidae. Found in European, West Asian and North African waters, it has silver grey scales and white-grey flesh. Specific seas in which the species occurs include the Irish Sea, Black Sea, Baltic Sea and Sea of the Hebrides. The fish is the subject of fisheries, particularly in Scandinavia, and is made into fish meal, as well as being used for human consumption. When used for food it can be canned, salted, breaded, fried, boiled, grilled, baked, deep fried, marinated, broiled, and smoked. This fish was first described by Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the 10th edition of Systema Naturae. He called it Clupea sprattus, but it was later transferred to the genus Sprattus. Three subspecies are recognised; S. sprattus balticus from the Baltic Sea; S. sprattus phalericus from the Mediterranean, Adriatic and Black Seas and S. sprattus sprattus from the eastern Atlantic.

Source: Wikipedia