The clupeid fishes are large filter-feeding organisms and have diverse groups of trophic guilds and habitats. They are known for their special body scale, which is unique among the other teleost fishes. Here, we examined microscopic characteristics of scales in 21 clupeid species from four marine resources, including the Caspian Sea, the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman (Indian Ocean) and South China Sea (Haian Islands and Shanwei, Pacific Ocean) to evaluate if the scale features could properly contribute to understanding the taxonomic relationships in these fishes. Typically, the studied scales were morphologically categorized into two types; circular (i.e., true circular, cordate, discoidal) and pentagonal. Also, it was found that the number and the orientation of radii and continuous striae, the presence of pores at the posterior field, overall shape, striations on the posterior field, and scale sizes could be used as suitable features to classify the clupeids in species and genus levels. The result of morphological analysis based on the scale characteristics was largely consistent with the phylogenetic relationships of the studied species. This highlighted that morphological characteristics of the clupeid scale could adequately contribute to the understanding of taxonomic relationships in this large group.

clupeid 鱼是大型滤食性生物，具有不同的营养行会和栖息地。它们以其特殊的体鳞而闻名，这在其他硬骨鱼类中是独一无二的。在这里，我们检查了来自四个海洋资源的 21 种鲱科动物的鳞片微观特征，包括里海、波斯湾和阿曼湾（印度洋）和南海（海安群岛和汕尾、太平洋），以评估尺度特征可以适当地有助于理解这些鱼类的分类关系。通常，所研究的量表在形态上分为两种类型；圆形（即真圆形、心形、盘状）和五边形。此外，还发现半径和连续条纹的数量和方向，后场孔的存在，整体形状、后场上的条纹和尺度大小可用作合适的特征，以在物种和属级水平对鲀进行分类。基于尺度特征的形态学分析结果与所研究物种的系统发育关系基本一致。这强调了 clupeid 量表的形态特征可以充分有助于理解这个大群体的分类关系。