Alewife
Alosa pseudoharengus
Hickory Shad
Alosa mediocris
About
The hickory shad is a schooling fish of the US East Coast that spends most of its life at sea but swims into rivers each spring to spawn.
Also known as: shad herring, fall herring
How to tell it apart
It is easily confused with the closely related American shad. The lower jaw juts out noticeably beyond the tip of the snout in the hickory shad, while in the American shad it does not.
Appearance
Its body is long, flattened side to side, and tapers toward the tail, with serrated scales along the belly. It is green-grey on top, shading to bright silver on the sides and white underneath, with small dark markings on the scales and a dark spot behind the gill cover, sometimes followed by a row of fainter spots.
Habitat
It lives in coastal marine waters from northern Florida to the Gulf of Maine, staying close to land, with its biggest numbers in Chesapeake Bay and coastal North Carolina. In spring, adults leave the sea and swim up estuaries and rivers to spawn over gravel bars.
Did you know?
Before its spring migration up rivers to spawn, it builds up fat reserves that it burns for fuel along the way, since it feeds very little once it leaves the sea.
Log it in Into the Blue
Describe what you saw and we name it, then keep every species you find in your Oceandex.
