Japanese Sardine

← John Dory
← Japanese Jack MackerelEndless Ocean Creatures
Endless Ocean 2 CreaturesChub Mackerel →
Antarctic Silverfish →

Japanese Sardine (Pacific Sardine)
Species:	Sardinops melanostictus
Games:	Endless Ocean, Endless Ocean 2
Category:	Small Marine Life
Length:	8in (20cm)
Appearance:	A small, steel-blue fish with shiny scales.
Location: (EO)	Underwater Ruins of Mo'ia Atoll (Autumn, Spring) Rock Bluff (Winter)
Location: (EO2)	Zahhab Region
Time:	Day and night
Dangerous:
Forms:	Adult only

The Japanese Sardine, also known as the Pacific Sardine (Sardinops melanostictus), is a small schooling fish found in both Endless Ocean and Endless Ocean 2.

It has a bluish back, with a reflective silver underside and rows of black dots along its sides. Some populations form huge schools in order to migrate for the wintertime.

In-Game

Marine Encyclopedia

Endless Ocean

Description

"These fish have long, skinny bodies with two-pronged tail fins. They are typically blue with bright white bellies. Somewhat shy, they can be seen swimming in schools around Rock Bluff during the winter.

These fish commonly have three rows of black spots on the sides of their bodies. However, there have been reported cases of Japanese sardines with very few or many more spots than usual.

These fish lay their eggs after sunset in water that is several feet deep. During the ovipositing, or egg-laying, period, a single female will lay multiple batches, each containing from 20,000 to 140,000 eggs. However, only one in 100,000 will survive to maturity in the harsh ocean climate."

Endless Ocean 2

Description

"This long, slender fish has a silver underside and blue back with lines of black specks running along its body. It migrates in huge schools, ranging from tens of thousands to one hundred million fish."

Location

Endless Ocean

A small shoal of Japanese sardines can be seen year-round in the Underwater Ruins of Mo'ia Atoll, being preyed upon by a group of penguins.

They can also be found in various places around the main stage of Manoa Lai during the winter. True to their encyclopedia description, one winter shoal can be seen in Rock Bluff. Another can be seen getting chased by the emperor penguins near Comb Reef.

Endless Ocean 2

These fish can be seen throughout the Zahhab Region, including a school that inhabits the Coral Valley area. They can also be seen in the Private Reef, provided they're drawn there with a Hump Coral.

Behavior

Japanese sardine tend to group together in medium-sized shoals and move around at a notable pace. They respond well to being given food.

Gallery

A single Japanese sardine from EO1.

A school of Japanese sardine from EO1.

Notes

Real-Life Information

1/2

• The scientific name given for the Japanese sardine in-game (Sardinops melanostictus) has a history of scrutiny in the scientific community, and is not the current accepted name for the fish in question. There are sources that still recognize it as its own species; however, most places seem to view S. melanostictus as a synonym of S. sagax, with S. sagax simply having genetically-distinct sub-populations.
  • Sometimes, the Japanese sardine is listed as a subspecies with the name Sardinops sagax melanostictus, but more often than not, it is simply included under assessments of S. sagax.
  • The other sub-populations of S. sagax are sometimes listed as subspecies as well. Overall, the general consensus remains that the genus Sardinops only has one species in it, S. sagax.
• Both the first and second game make notes of the black dots on the sardine's sides, and the first game notes that there may be variation in their numbers. This is true - there are generally three rows of these spots, but one to three is more common than anything above.
• The first game remarks upon the nature of the egg-laying period for female sardines, and that they lay tens of thousands of eggs - very few of which survive to adulthood. This is true. A single batch of eggs from a female can range from 10,000 to 45,000 eggs, and egg-laying - spawning - happens multiple times in a season.
  • The time between spawning seems to vary based upon locations, because fish off of the coast of the Pacific Northwest (Washington and Oregon states) spawn every 20-40 days, whereas off of California, the pause is 6-8 days.
  • Young fish are very small, and so are easily eaten by tiny crustaceans called copepods, which contributes greatly to the high mortality rate.
• The second game reports that Japanese sardine migrates in enormous schools that can contain millions of fish. This is true, and the groups in question can spread out over several kilometers. Juvenile sardines do not migrate, however; only the adults do, and young sardines stay near the shoreline in the wintertime. As the fish get older, they migrate longer distances.
• Though the Japanese sardine is an important food fish, its population numbers have fallen below the optimal level, and so fisheries are currently banned from fishing them in large numbers. This ban was enacted in 2015, but is still in place.

Navigation

Small Marine Life

False Clown Anemonefish • Yellowtail Clownfish • Tomato Clownfish • Yellow Clownfish
Sapphire Devil • Starck's Demoiselle • Goldtail Demoiselle • Blue-Green Chromis
Threespot Dascyllus • John Dory • Singular Bannerfish • Bicolor Angelfish • Royal Angelfish
Threadfin Butterflyfish • Bluelashed Butterflyfish • Black Pyramid Butterflyfish • Banded Angelfish
Humpback Grouper • Dusky Batfish • Mandarinfish • Goldeye Rockfish • Marine Betta
Harlequin Sweetlips • Marbled Flounder • Yatabei Blenny • Rippled Rockskipper • Red-Spotted Blenny
Bicolor Blenny • Fire Goby • Elegant Firefish • Monster Shrimp Goby • Watchman Goby
Singapore Prawn-Goby • Blue-Spotted Jawfish • Peacock Blenny • Oblong Goby • Yellow Clown Goby
Red-Spotted Goby • Five-Lined Coral Goby • Long-Spine Porcupinefish • Yellow Boxfish
Whitespotted Boxfish • Tiger Puffer • Striated Frogfish • Painted Frogfish • Warty Frogfish • Sea Robin
Southern Orange-Lined Cardinalfish • Cardinal Fish • Sea Goldie • Stocky Anthias • Cherry Grouper
Sunset Anthias • Flying Fish • Chub Mackerel • Japanese Jack Mackerel • Japanese Sardine
Antarctic Silverfish • Capelin • Dusky Rockcod • Bald Notothen • Slender Bristlemouth