Higher classification Tenualosa | Scientific name Tenualosa toli Rank Species | |
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Similar Tenualosa, Shads, Clupeidae, Hilsa kelee, Saccharum edule | ||
The toli shad or Chinese herring (Tenualosa toli) is a fish of the Clupeidae family, a species of shad distributed in the western Indian Ocean and the Bay of Bengal to the Java Sea and the South China Sea. It may be found in Mauritius and the Cambodian Mekong near the Vietnam border. It inhabits fast-flowing, turbid estuaries and adjacent coastal waters.
Known as ikan terubok in Malaysia, T. toli is highly prized among Malaysians for its meat and eggs. Overfishing has depleted the population alarmingly in South East Asia, with only Sarawak's coastal areas left as its last habitat. In Bangladesh, where it is known as Ilisha Chandana, it is commercially less important than T. ilisha. It is known as Daungdana in Myanmar, Trey Palung in Cambodia, Bhing in Maharashtra, Palwa in Gujarat, and Seriya in Sri Lanka.
Ascending rivers to breed. T. toli is distinguished from similar clupeids, except Hilsa kelee (kelee shad or five spot herring), by a distinct median notch in upper jaw. Biology of this protandrous hermaphrodite is presumed to be similar to that of Tenualosa ilisha, but the fewer gill rakers suggest an intake of larger species of zooplankton as food.
