Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes (gen., sp.) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Actinopterygii (ray-finned fishes) > Clupeiformes (Herrings) > Clupeidae (Herrings, shads, sardines, menhadens) > Alosinae
Etymology: Alosa: Latin, alausa = a fish cited by Ausonius and Latin, halec = pickle, dealing with the Greek word hals = salt; it is also the old Saxon name for shad = "alli" ; 1591 (Ref. 45335).

Environment / Climate / Range Ecology

Brackish; pelagic. Temperate, preferred ?; 48°N - 36°N, 46°E - 56°E (Ref. 188)

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Point map | Introductions | Faunafri

Former USSR and Asia: Caspian Sea.

Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: L_m ? range ? - ? cm
Max length : 25.0 cm SL male/unsexed; (Ref. 188); common length : 17.0 cm SL male/unsexed; (Ref. 188)

Short description Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 3; Dorsal soft rays (total): 13-14; Anal spines: 3; Anal soft rays: 17 - 19. Body shape `shad-like'; upper and lower head profiles strongly rounded. Gill rakers rather long and thin, equal to or usually longer than gill filaments. Teeth well developed in both jaws. Resembles A. saposchnikowii which has a more pointed head, the upper and lower jaw profiles straight; A. caspia has more gill rakers and A. brashnikovi is more slender and `herring-like'.

Confined to semi-saline waters; non-anadromous, not entering fresh water. Spawns in the eastern part at the north end of Caspian Sea, from mid-May to end of June, mostly when temperatures are 18-20°C, salinities 8-10 ppt and at depths of around 3 m. The young move southward late in autumn, later than any other clupeids.

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator | Collaborators

Whitehead, P.J.P., 1985. FAO Species Catalogue. Vol. 7. Clupeoid fishes of the world (suborder Clupeioidei). An annotated and illustrated catalogue of the herrings, sardines, pilchards, sprats, shads, anchovies and wolf-herrings. FAO Fish. Synop. 125(7/1):1-303. Rome: FAO. (Ref. 188)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 115185)

Not Evaluated

CITES (Ref. 94142)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

Harmless

Human uses

Fisheries: subsistence fisheries

FAO(Publication : search) | FisheriesWiki | Sea Around Us

More information

Countries
FAO areas
Ecosystems
Occurrences
Introductions
Stocks
Ecology
Diet
Food items
Food consumption
Ration

Common names
Synonyms
Metabolism
Predators
Ecotoxicology
Reproduction
Maturity
Spawning
Fecundity
Eggs
Egg development

Age/Size
Growth
Length-weight
Length-length
Length-frequencies
Morphometrics
Morphology
Larvae
Larval dynamics
Recruitment
Abundance

References
Aquaculture
Aquaculture profile
Strains
Genetics
Allele frequencies
Heritability
Diseases
Processing
Mass conversion

Collaborators
Pictures
Stamps, Coins
Sounds
Ciguatera
Speed
Swim. type
Gill area
Otoliths
Brains
Vision

Tools

Special reports

Check for Aquarium maintenance | Check for Species Fact Sheets | Check for Aquaculture Fact Sheets

Download XML

Summary page | Point data | Common names | Photos

Internet sources

Estimates of some properties based on models

Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82805): PD₅₀ = 0.5000 [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].

Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00813 (0.00379 - 0.01743), b=3.03 (2.86 - 3.20), in cm Total Length, based on LWR estimates for this Genus-body shape (Ref. 93245).

Trophic Level (Ref. 69278): 3.7 ±0.4 se; Based on size and trophs of closest relatives

Resilience (Ref. 69278): High, minimum population doubling time less than 15 months (Preliminary K or Fecundity.).

Vulnerability (Ref. 59153): Low to moderate vulnerability (27 of 100) .

Price category (Ref. 80766): Low.

Alosa sphaerocephala (Berg, 1913)