]] For the hide and seek-like game, see Hide and seek. Sardines or pilchards are a group of several types of small oily fish related to herrings, family Clupeidae. Sardines were named after the island of Sardinia, where they were once in abundance. The terms are not precise, and the usual meanings vary by region; for instance, to many people a "sardine" is a young European pilchard. A generalisation is that if the fish is under 4 inches long (10 cm) it is classed as a sardine, and if larger than 4 inches it is classed as a pilchard. The FAO/WHO Codex standard for canned sardines cites 21 species that may be classed as sardines; FishBase, a comprehensive database of information about fish, lists at least six species called just "pilchard," over a dozen called just "sardine," and many more with the two basic names qualified by various adjectives.