Hilsa kelee

Kelee shad
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Order:	Clupeiformes
Family:	Clupeidae
Genus:	Hilsa Regan, 1917
Species:	H. kelee
Binomial name
Hilsa kelee Cuvier, 1829
Synonyms
Alausa brachysoma Bleeker, 1853 Alausa kanagurta Bleeker, 1852 Alosa brevis Bleeker, 1848 Alosa malayana Bleeker, 1866 Clupea durbanensis Regan, 1906 Clupea kanagurta (Bleeker, 1852) Clupea kelee Cuvier, 1829 Clupea platygaster Günther, 1868 Clupea sinensis Bloch, 1795 Clupeonia blochii Valenciennes, 1847 Harengula zeylanica Hubrecht, 1879 Hilsa kanagurta (Bleeker, 1852) Macrura brevis (Bleeker, 1848) Macrura kelee (Cuvier, 1829) Tenualosa kelee (Cuvier, 1829)

Hilsa kelee, called the kelee shad, fivespot herring and the razorbelly, is a species of shad native to the coasts and estuaries of the Indian Ocean and the western Pacific, generally in tropical waters. It feeds on diatoms and dinoflagellates, and any other small plankton that it can trap in its gillrakers. Some individuals can reach 35 cm, but most are around 16.5 cm. Hilsa kelee is currently considered the only species in the genus Hilsa, although other species have been included in the genus previously.

The species is commercially fished, with 221,899 t landed in 2000, and 35,483 t landed in 2008.

External links

• Froese, Rainer and Pauly, Daniel, eds. (2010). "Hilsa kelee" in FishBase. October 2010 version.