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Alosa mediocris  (Mitchill, 1814)

Hickory shad
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Image of Alosa mediocris (Hickory shad)
Alosa mediocris
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United States (contiguous states) country information

Common names: Bonejack, Fall herring, Freshwater taylor
Occurrence: native
Salinity: freshwater
Abundance: | Ref:
Importance: | Ref:
Aquaculture: | Ref:
Regulations: | Ref:
Uses: no uses
Comments: Found throughout Chesapeake Bay (Ref. 4639). Southern New England (Ref. 37512). Also Ref. 27549, 93252.
National Checklist:
Country Information: httpss://www.cia.gov/library/publications/resources/the-world-factbook/geos/us.html
National Fisheries Authority: https://www.nmfs.gov
Occurrences: Occurrences Point map
Main Ref: Whitehead, P.J.P., 1985
National Database:

Classification / Names

Actinopterygii (ray-finned fishes) > Clupeiformes (Herrings) > Clupeidae (Herrings, shads, sardines, menhadens) > Alosinae
Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes (gen., sp.) | ITIS | CoL

Common names from other countries

Main reference

Size / Weight / Age

Max length : 60.0 cm SL male/unsexed; (Ref. 188); common length : 34.0 cm SL male/unsexed; (Ref. 188)

Length at first maturity
Lm 32.0  range ? - ? cm

Environment

Marine; freshwater; brackish; pelagic-neritic; anadromous (Ref. 51243)

Climate / Range

Temperate, preferred 18°C (Ref. 107945); 46°N - 25°N, 82°W - 66°W

Distribution

Western Atlantic: along the coast from Maine to the St. John's River, Florida. Also in rivers.
Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Introductions

Short description

Dorsal spines (total): 0; Dorsal soft rays (total): 15-20; Anal spines: 0; Anal soft rays: 19 - 23; Vertebrae: 53 - 55. Belly with distinct keel of scutes. Lower jaw very prominent, but not rising steeply within mouth; teeth reduced or in upper jaw absent in fishes over 23 cm standard length. A dark spot on shoulder, several obscure dark spots along flank (sometimes missing). Closely resembles A. chrysochloris which has stronger jaw teeth, no shoulder spot and the body depth less than head length (Ref. 188). Silvery, with a dark grayish green back (Ref. 7251).

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Schools of adults are found in marine waters, along the coast; also estuaries, tidal rivers and tributaries during late spring and early summer (Ref. 4639). Juveniles tend to leave nursery areas during summer (Ref. 4639). Feed on small fishes, also squid, small crabs and other crustaceans, as well as fish eggs. Spawn in tidal freshwater (Patuxent River, Chesapeake Bay in May) (Ref. 188), and return to the sea shortly after (Ref. 4639). Parasites found are nematodes, cestodes and trematodes (Ref. 37032).

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 115185)

Threat to humans

  Harmless



Human uses

Fisheries: minor commercial

More information

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

Download XML

Internet sources

BHL | Check for other websites | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | DiscoverLife | ECOTOX | FAO(fisheries: production; publication : search) | GenBank(genome, nucleotide) | GOBASE | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | iSpecies | PubMed | Scirus | Sea Around Us | SeaLifeBase | Tree of Life | uBio | uBio RSS | Wikipedia(Go, Search) | World Records Freshwater Fishing | Zoological Record | Fishtrace

Estimates of some properties based on models

Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82805)
PD50 = 0.5000 many relatives (e.g. carps) 0.5 - 2.0 few relatives (e.g. lungfishes)

Trophic Level (Ref. 69278)
4.1   ±0.58 se; Based on food items.

Resilience (Ref. 69278)
Medium, minimum population doubling time 1.4 - 4.4 years (K=0.3)

Vulnerability (Ref. 59153)
Moderate vulnerability (41 of 100)
Price category (Ref. 80766)
Low