Microthrissa royauxi, the royal sprat, is a species of pelagic, freshwater fish from the herring family Clupeidae which is found in the Congo River basin in west Africa.

[2] It is of limited importance as a food fish in subsistence fisheries and its conservation status is Least Concern.

[1] The clupeids are largely marine, the sub-family that Microthrissa royauxi is a member of, the Pellonulinae, are common in southern and western Africa, for example Limnothrissa miodon in Lake Tanganyika and Potamothrissa acuitirostris in the Congo Basin.

Molecular phylogenetic reconstructions indicate that the ancestors of these freshwater Pellonulines colonised West Africa 25–50 million years ago, at the end of a major marine incursion in the region.

Pellonuline herring subsequently speciated in an evolutionary radiation in West Africa, and spread across the continent and colonising its freshwater bodies.