What Animal Lives Where

Where has the European sprat been recorded?

Sprattus sprattus occurrence evidence comes from 7,235 records in 14 countries and territories, from 1904 to 2026. Most records come from Belgium.

European sprat
European sprat — Photo (display-sized rendition): Hans Hillewaert · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
ClupeiformesClupeidaeSprattus

Observation evidence passport

Evidence found

7,235 records across 14 countries and territories, 1904–2026.

Sprattus sprattus · GBIF taxon key 2413452

Source coverage

CC0 GBIF Animalia occurrence facets, including country, month and year summaries.

Refreshed 2026-08-23. Inspect the taxon on GBIF.

What this means

The species has been recorded in the listed places in the stated source universe. Peak month: August.

6 months reach at least 10% of the peak facet count.

What this does not mean

repeated describes the record pattern, not a formal range, residency, abundance or conservation assessment.

A single record remains evidence of a recording, not proof that a population lives there.

Compare this animal’s observation pattern

When it is recorded

JFMAMJJASOND

Peak month: August. Records cluster in the months an animal is present and being looked for, so a summer peak can reflect observer effort as much as the animal.

Records over time

19042026

Recording effort has risen steeply almost everywhere since the 1990s, so a rising line usually shows more observers rather than more animals.

Where European sprat has been recorded

The countries below show where occurrence evidence exists for European sprat. They do not define a complete habitat range: survey effort differs by place, and historical or one-off records can appear alongside repeated presence.

PlaceRecordsShare
Belgium 2,786
Sweden 2,259
Netherlands 1,999
Germany 72
United Kingdom 53
Ireland 28
Denmark 15
France 10
Romania 4
Guernsey 3
Iceland 2
Türkiye 2
Namibia 1
Poland 1

Related animals

Others in the family Clupeidae.

Atlantic herring
Atlantic herring
341,661 records
Pacific herring
Pacific herring
7,801 records
Bonga shad
Bonga shad
6,614 records
Delicate round herring
Delicate round herring
3,686 records
Madeiran sardinella
Madeiran sardinella
1,500 records
Reeve's shad
Reeve's shad
1,106 records
Chilean sprat
25 records
Chilean herring
4 records
Record pattern: repeated
Repeated records across many years and months. This is inferred from how many years and months the animal appears in, not from a range map — treat it as evidence, not a formal assessment.