Sardine

Sardine and pilchard are common names for various species of small, oily forage fish in the herring suborder, the term sardine first used in English in the early 15th century, possibly in reference to the island of Sardinia, around which sardines were once supposedly abundant. The terms sardine and pilchard are imprecise and vary by region; one common convention treats fish shorter than 15 centimeters as sardines and larger fish as pilchards, though the FAO and WHO's joint food standard for canned sardines names 21 species that may be classed as such, and different fish databases apply the two basic names inconsistently, sometimes qualified with various adjectives.