Alabama shad (Alosa alabamae)

Scientific name: Alosa alabamae Jordan & Evermann, 1896

Alabama shad (Alosa alabamae)

The Alabama shad (Alosa alabamae) is a freshwater fish of the family Clupeidae.

Biology

Dorsal spines (total): 0; Anal spines: 0. Body moderately compressed, belly with distinct keel of scutes. Lower jaw steeply rising within mouth; no teeth present at front of jaws; upper jaw with a distinct notch. The only other shad of the Gulf of Mexico has only 20 to 24 gill rakers. Closely resembles A. aestivalis and A. pseudoharengus of Atlantic coasts, but in them the lower jaw rises very steeply in the mouth.

Source: FishBase, licensed CC BY-NC 4.0.

Species facts

Scientific name
Alosa alabamae
Family
Clupeidae (Herrings, shads and sardines)
Order
Clupeiformes (Herrings)
Class
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned fishes)
Maximum length
51.0
Common length
42.5
Environment
Marine; freshwater; brackish; pelagic-neritic; anadromous
Climate
Subtropical
Distribution
Western Central Atlantic: Gulf of Mexico (northern part, from the Mississippi delta eastward to the Choctawhatchee River in Florida; also in rivers from Iowa to Arkansas and across to West Virginia). Status of threat from.
Conservation status (IUCN)
Data deficient (DD)
Threat to humans
Harmless
Uses
Fisheries: minor commercial
Resilience
Medium, minimum population doubling time 1.4 - 4.4 years (tmax=4)

Sources

Taxonomy, distribution and biology data: FishBase (Froese, R. and D. Pauly, eds.), licensed CC BY-NC 4.0.

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