Alabama shad
📖 Overview
Adults form schools. They ascend rivers and streams to spawn in spring or early summer, the young presumably descending in autumn. Marketed mostly fresh.
🔬 Taxonomy
🐟 Physical Description
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 .: fusiform / normal; Cross section: compressed.
🌀 Behaviour
Behavioural data for Alabama shad is currently being reviewed.
🦐 Diet
🥚 Reproduction
Spawns in freshwater in spring or early summer, ascending rivers and streams, the young presumably descending in autumn.
🌍 Habitat & Distribution
Marine; freshwater; brackish; pelagic-neritic; anadromous . Subtropical; 44°N - 24°N, 96°W - 81°W 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).
🌿 Ecology
📐 Morphometrics
🌡️ Water Parameters & Tolerance
🛡️ Conservation Assessment
📊 Population Risk & Fisheries
🔍 Similar Species
👥 Community & Contribute
No observations yet - be the first to log one!
View all observations for Alabama shad ↗Spotted incorrect or outdated data? Submit a correction and our editorial team will review it. Approved edits go live within 48 hours.
Found a factual error, broken data, or inappropriate content? Let us know and we will investigate promptly.