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Teleostei (teleosts) > Clupeiformes (Herrings) > Alosidae (Shads and Sardines)
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); alabamae: From the word alabamae, meaning from Alabama (Ref. 10294).
More on authors: Jordan & Evermann.

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Marine; freshwater; brackish; pelagic-neritic; anadromous (Ref. 51243). Subtropical; 44°N - 24°N, 96°W - 81°W

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

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 Ref. 11858.

Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: L_m ? range ? - ? cm
Max length : 51.0 cm SL male/unsexed; (Ref. 188); common length : 42.5 cm SL male/unsexed; (Ref. 188); max. reported age: 4 years (Ref. 12193)

Short description Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics

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 (Ref. 188).

Forms schools. Ascends rivers and streams to spawn in spring or early summer, the young presumably descending in autumn. Marketed mostly fresh.

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturities | Reproduction | Spawnings | Egg(s) | Fecundities | Larvae

Spawns in freshwater in spring or early summer, ascending rivers and streams, the young presumably descending in autumn.

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator | Collaborators

Whitehead, P.J.P., 1985. FAO Species Catalogue. Vol. 7. Clupeoid fishes of the world (suborder Clupeoidei). 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. 130435)

Near Threatened (NT) (A2ac); Date assessed: 15 April 2020

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

Harmless

Human uses

Fisheries: minor commercial

FAO - Publication: search | FishSource |

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Estimates based on models

Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804): PD₅₀ = 0.5000 [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].

Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00794 (0.00370 - 0.01703), b=3.04 (2.87 - 3.21), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this Genus-body shape (Ref. 93245).

Trophic level (Ref. 69278): 2.7 ±0.28 se; based on food items.

Resilience (Ref. 120179): Medium, minimum population doubling time 1.4 - 4.4 years (tmax=4).

Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153): Moderate vulnerability (45 of 100).

Price category (Ref. 80766): Low.

Alosa alabamae Jordan & Evermann, 1896