Sardines are edible fish. They are fishes of the family Clupeidae, order Clupeiformes, class Osteichthyes. Specifically, sardines include three genera, namely sardines, small sardines and pseudosardines. In the case of herring, it is of the family Clupeidae, order Clupeiformes, class Osteichthyes. It can be said that sardines and herring refer to the same kind of fish, both of which refer to Clupeiformes and Clupeidae. However, the scope of the two is different. Herrings have a wider range, and all fishes of the family Clupeidae can be called herring, while sardines refer to a smaller range, mainly the three genera mentioned above.
As mentioned above, sardines and herring are not exactly the same, although they are both Osteichthyes, Clupeiformes and Clupeidae. The scope of sardines is relatively small, basically sardines, small sardines and pseudo-sardines. Herrings, on the other hand, cover a much wider range. All the members of the Clupeidae family can be called herring, and there are more than 60 genera and nearly 200 species. Therefore, sardines are included in herring, and sardines can be said to be herring, but not all herring are sardines.
However, sometimes herring refers to a relatively narrow range, and sometimes it can even refer to a single species. Whether herring refers specifically to a species depends on the specific context. For example, there is a kind of Swedish herring can, in which "herring" refers specifically to "Atlantic herring". But regardless of context, herring contains a wide variety of species.
