A generic term applied broadly to any of various small, soft-boned, saltwater fish such as SPRAT and young PILCHARD and HERRING. These tiny fish are iridescent and silvery. They swim in huge crowd, usually near the water’s surface. Some are packed as is, while others are skinned, boned and sold as fillets. The name is thought to have come from the young pilchards caught off the coast of Sardinia, which were one of the first fish packed in oil.