Chinese trumpetfish in shape to the anal fin which is just under. The pelvic fins are located in the middle of the body and are small, with one basal black spot. The body coloration can be uniform or mottled in a range of grey, brown, or dark green. Some fish are uniformly bright yellow. The rear part of the body is normally black with white dots. Two black spots are present on the tail. The compound set of the long caudal peduncle and the caudal fin is yellowish, whatever the fish coloration. Caudal fin usually has two round black spots, at least
Sardinella maderensis while also having a variably protruding belly. These fish have a median number of gill rakers and their upper pectoral fin rays are white on the outer side with a black membrane in between. They are very hard to distinguish from "Sardinella aurita" except that these fish have only 7 rays on their pelvic fins and no black spot on the hind part of their gill cover. They also have a gray caudal fin (see Fish anatomy) with black tips. "S. madarensis" catches have decreased from 1.8 tonnes per trip in 2003 down to 1.5 tonnes in the following two