Argentinidae
Temporal range: Maastrichtian–present
Argentina sphyraena
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Argentiniformes
Family: Argentinidae
Bonaparte, 1838
Genera

Argentina
Glossanodon

The herring smelts or argentines are a family, Argentinidae, of marine smelts. They are similar in appearance to smelts (family Osmeridae) but have much smaller mouths.

Ontogenic series of a fossil species of the genus Argentina, the Geological Museum, Copenhagen

They are found in oceans throughout the world. They are small fishes, growing up to 25 centimetres (9.8 in) long, except the greater argentine, Argentina silus, which reaches 70 centimetres (28 in).

They form large schools close to the sea floor, and feed on plankton, especially krill, amphipods, small cephalopods, chaetognaths, and ctenophores.

Several species are fished commercially and processed into fish meal.

The earliest fossil argentinid remains are otoliths known from the Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) of the United States and Germany.[1][2][3]

References


  1. ^ Near, Thomas J; Thacker, Christine E (16 September 2023). "Phylogenetic classification of living and fossil ray-finned fishes (Actinopterygii)". Bulletin of the Peabody Museum of Natural History. 65. doi:10.5281/zenodo.8352027.
  2. ^ Stringer, Gary; Schwarzhans, Werner (2021-09-01). "Upper Cretaceous teleostean otoliths from the Severn Formation (Maastrichtian) of Maryland, USA, with an unusual occurrence of Siluriformes and Beryciformes and the oldest Atlantic coast Gadiformes". Cretaceous Research. 125: 104867. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2021.104867. ISSN 0195-6671.
  3. ^ Schwarzhans, Werner W.; Jagt, John W. M. (2021-11-01). "Silicified otoliths from the Maastrichtian type area (Netherlands, Belgium) document early gadiform and perciform fishes during the Late Cretaceous, prior to the K/Pg boundary extinction event". Cretaceous Research. 127: 104921. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2021.104921. ISSN 0195-6671.
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