9. Sardinella zunasi
(12cm)

S. zunasi
collected from a fish market by Kim, DaeMin
(Siheung county, Gyeonggi Province)
 © 2005 photo by Kim, DaeMin

Habitat: Estuary of large rivers or silty lakes with bottoms of mud and sand. Occasionally swim up to mid-lower reach of large rivers such as Han River in Seoul. Feeds on plankton.

Range: Yellow Sea coast and Bohai Bay(China, North Korea, South Korea), southern China, western Japan, Ryukyu Islands(Japan), Taiwan.

Remarks: Due to its sharp-edged row of spiny scutes along the midline of the belly, it is often compared to narrow-minded personality in non-formal cases. Since mid-1980s, originally from Ganghwa Island in Incheon, the name of this fish has been popular by its great taste. However, the species that people think this fish and love to taste in these days is not S. zunasi of the family Clupeidae but a species of the family Engraulidae.