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).
Eponymy: Alexandre Alexandrovich Sapozhnikov (1827–1887) ran Sapozhnikov Brothers, the oldest fishery company (1796) in Astrakhan The family was renowned for its benevolence including funding, opening and running an orphanage at the time of a cholera [...] (Ref. 128868), visit book page.
Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range
Ecology
Freshwater; brackish; pelagic; potamodromous (Ref. 51243). Temperate; 3°C - 25°C (Ref. 56460); 49°N - 35°N, 44°E - 56°E (Ref. 188)
Europe and Central Asia: Caspian Sea.
Size / Weight / Age
Maturity: Lm ? range ? - ? cm
Max length : 38.1 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 111344); common length : 21.0 cm SL male/unsexed; (Ref. 188); max. published weight: 469.00 g (Ref. 56460); max. reported age: 9 years (Ref. 56460)
Dorsal spines (total): 0; Anal spines: 0. Body `shad-like'; upper and lower head profiles straight. Gill rakers moderately thick and short, tips pointed, usually shorter than gill filaments. Teeth well developed in both jaws. Resembles A. sphaerocephala, which has a blunter head, with round upper and lower head profiles; A. caspia has more gill rakers (50 to 180) and A. brashnikovi is more slender and `herring-like'.
Euryhaline and migratory but non-anadromous. One of the most cold-loving Alosa of the Caspian (among the first to migrate in spring to the north). Feeds on large crustaceans and small fishes. Spawns in northern Caspian from end of April (peak in mid-May), moving into shallow water and spawning at depths of 1-6 m and salinities of 0.07-11 ppt. The young later move southward; some perhaps remain in the north.
Life cycle and mating behavior
Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae
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: Version 2024-1)
Threat to humans
Harmless
Human uses
Fisheries: minor commercial
Tools
Special reports
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Internet sources
Estimates based on models
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref.
82804): PD
50 = 0.5000 [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00724 (0.00470 - 0.01118), b=3.14 (3.01 - 3.27), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this species & Genus-body shape (Ref.
93245).
Trophic level (Ref.
69278): 4.4 ±0.0 se; based on diet studies.
Generation time: 3.1 ( na - na) years. Estimated as median ln(3)/K based on 1
growth studies.
Resilience (Ref.
120179): Medium, minimum population doubling time 1.4 - 4.4 years (K=0.3).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref.
59153): Low to moderate vulnerability (33 of 100).
