Estuarine Round-herring
Encyclopedia
The Estuarine Round-herring, Gilchristella aestuaria, is an extremely important fish in estuaries of South Africa
. This small sardine
-like fish lives in large shoals and provides an important link in the food chain
as a food source to larger fish and water bird
s . This fish does not survive in an aquarium
, presumably dying from capture myopathy
or stress .
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
. This small sardine
Sardine
Sardines, or pilchards, are several types of small, oily fish related to herrings, family Clupeidae. Sardines are named after the Mediterranean island of Sardinia, around which they were once abundant....
-like fish lives in large shoals and provides an important link in the food chain
Food chain
A food web depicts feeding connections in an ecological community. Ecologists can broadly lump all life forms into one of two categories called trophic levels: 1) the autotrophs, and 2) the heterotrophs...
as a food source to larger fish and water bird
Water bird
The term water bird or waterbird is used to refer to birds that live on or around water. Some definitions apply the term especially to birds in freshwater habitats, though others make no distinction from birds that inhabit marine environments. In addition, some water birds are more terrestrial or...
s . This fish does not survive in an aquarium
Aquarium
An aquarium is a vivarium consisting of at least one transparent side in which water-dwelling plants or animals are kept. Fishkeepers use aquaria to keep fish, invertebrates, amphibians, marine mammals, turtles, and aquatic plants...
, presumably dying from capture myopathy
Myopathy
In medicine, a myopathy is a muscular disease in which the muscle fibers do not function for any one of many reasons, resulting in muscular weakness. "Myopathy" simply means muscle disease...
or stress .