12.03.2020

A small fish of the herring family. Herring (Clupeidae). Pictured is a flock of herring

Herring - schooling plankton-eating fish; Most of the species are marine, some are anadromous, and a few are freshwater. They are widely distributed from the subantarctic to the Arctic, but the number of genera and species is large in the tropics, decreases in temperate waters, and single species are common in cold waters. For the most part, these are small and medium-sized fish, less than 35-45 cm, only a few anadromous herring can reach a length of 75 cm. In total, there are about 50 genera and 190 species of herring. This family provides about 20% of the world fish catch, taking the first place among the fish families in terms of catch, along with anchovies.

In this large and important family, 6-7 subfamilies are distinguished, some of which are accepted by some scientists as special families.

Animal life: in 6 volumes. - M.: Enlightenment. Edited by professors N.A. Gladkov, A.V. Mikheev. 1970 .

See what the "Family Herring (Clupeidae)" is in other dictionaries:

HERRING FAMILY- (CLUPEIDAE) In herring fish, the body is slightly compressed from the sides, usually quite thick (rolled), the only dorsal fin is located in the middle part of the back. A keel of pointed scales stretches along the middle of the belly in many species. Herring teeth... Fish of Russia. Directory

Herring Atlantic herring (Clupea harengus) Scientific classification Kingdom: Animals Type ... Wikipedia

- (Clupeidae), a family of schooling fish neg. herring. The body is laterally compressed or valky, dl. usually 35-45 cm (for through forms up to 75 cm). Pelvic fins are absent in some species. A network of seismosensory channels is developed on the head. Along Wed… … Biological encyclopedic dictionary

- (Clupeidae) a family of fish from the subclass of teleosts (Teleostei), the detachment of vesicles (Physostomi). The body is covered with scales (for the most part easily falling off); naked head; no antennae; the belly is laterally compressed and forms a jagged edge; the edge of the top ... ... Encyclopedic Dictionary F.A. Brockhaus and I.A. Efron

Contains fish species that are found in the fresh waters of Russia, including introduced ones. Endemic to the territory of Russia are 2 families (golomyankovye and deep-sea sculpins), 15 genera and 65 species, most of the endemic species ... ... Wikipedia

ORDER HERRING- (CLUPEIFORMES) Herring-like large or small silvery fish, usually with a laterally compressed body, covered with rounded, easily falling scales. The caudal fin of the herring is notched, resembling a two-pronged fork, the pelvic fins are located ... Fish of Russia. Directory

Atlantic herring- (Clupea harengus) see also HERRING FAMILY (CLUPEIDAE) The body of the Atlantic herring is low, sloping, with a rounded abdomen. The scales located on the belly do not form a strong, noticeable keel, characteristic of many other herrings. ... ... Fish of Russia. Directory

Brazhnikovskaya herring- (Alosa brashnikovi) see also HERRING FAMILY (CLUPEIDAE) In contrast to the Atlantic herring, the Brazhnikovskaya herring has a well-defined keel of pointed scales on the belly, the same keel is present on the back in front of the dorsal fin, and the upper jaw ... ... Fish of Russia. Directory

Herring (Clupeidae), a family of bony fish of the herring order. Body length 35 45 cm (only some up to 75 cm). About 50 genera; distributed from temperate latitudes to the tropics. Most S. are marine, a few are anadromous or ... ... Great Soviet Encyclopedia

This term has other meanings, see Herring (meanings). This article should be wikified. Please format it according to the rules for formatting articles ... Wikipedia

Family HERRING (Clupeidae)

In this large and important family, 6-7 subfamilies are distinguished, some of which are accepted by some scientists as special families.

HERRING (Dussumierinae) subfamily

Round-belly herrings differ from other herrings in that their belly is rounded and there are no keel scales along its midline. Mouth small, terminal. The jaws, palate and tongue are covered with numerous small teeth. This group includes 7 genera with 10 species distributed in tropical and subtropical waters of the Pacific, Indian and western Atlantic Oceans. Two groups of forms (genera) are distinguished among round-bellied herring: larger multivertebral (48-56 vertebrae) fish, reaching a length of 15-35 cm (Dussumieria, Etrumeus), and smaller few-vertebral (30-46 vertebrae) fish, 5-11 cm length (Spratelloides, Jenkinsia, Echirava, Sauvagella, Gilchristella). Kibango herrings (Spatelloides) are small, most numerous among round-bellied herrings, reaching only 10 cm in length. Throughout the coastal regions of the vast expanses of tropical waters of the Indian and Pacific Oceans(except only in the eastern Pacific), these fish are attracted at night by the light of lamps from the ship in huge numbers. Kibinago herrings are included in summer time in shallow bays for spawning.

Unlike Dussumieria and the usual round-bellied herring (Urum), which spawn floating eggs, kibinago herrings lay peculiar bottom eggs that stick to grains of sand, the yolk of which is provided with a group of small fat droplets. Despite their small size, kibinago herring is eaten fresh, dried and in the form of a delicious fish paste. In addition, they are used as excellent live bait for skipjack tuna.

Manhua (Jerrkinsia) is very close to the kibinago herring. Two or three species of manhua live off the Atlantic coast of the islands and the isthmus of Central America from Bahamas, Florida and Mexico to Venezuela, as well as Bermuda. It is even smaller, only up to 6.5 cm long, but, like the kibinago, it has a silvery stripe running along its sides from head to tail; it stays in coves with sandy bottoms and lays the same kind of sticky bottom eggs. Manhua is specially caught in Cuba to lure skipper tuna, and the lack of it adversely affects the tuna fishery.

Types of other genera of round-bellied herring - small herring living in bays and estuaries, off the coast East Africa, Madagascar and India.

HERRING (Clupeinae) or Herring Subfamily

This subfamily is the most important group of herring fish, including northern sea herring, sardines, sardinella, sprats, seals and other genera. There are about 12 genera in total.

Sea herring (Clupea) inhabit the temperate waters of the northern hemisphere (boreal region) and adjacent seas of the Arctic Ocean, and in the southern hemisphere they live off the coast of Chile.

Sea herring are schooling plankton-eating fish, usually up to 33-35 cm in length. Scales cycloid, easily falling off. Keel scales are poorly developed. The sides and abdomen are silvery, the back is blue-green or green. They lay bottom sticky eggs on the ground or algae. Most of the sea herring live near the coast, only a few races go beyond the shelf during the feeding period. Among sea herrings, there are both those making long-distance migrations with passive resettlement of larvae and fry, return migrations of growing fish and feeding and spawning wanderings. adults, and forming local herds confined to the marginal seas; there are also lacustrine forms living in brackish water bodies semi-enclosed or completely isolated from the sea.

Currently, there are three types of sea herring - Atlantic, or multi-vertebral, eastern, or few-vertebral, and Chilean herring.

MANDUFIA (Ramnogaster) - three species of herring of this genus live in the waters of Uruguay and Argentina. The body of the mandufis is laterally compressed, the belly is convex, with a toothed keel of scales equipped with spikes, the mouth is small, upper; the ventral fins are shifted further forward than in herring and sprats, their bases are in front of the base of the dorsal fin. These are small fish, about 9-10 cm long, common in coastal waters, estuaries and rivers. Flocks of mandufias are found in brackish waters and enter rivers along with flocks of aterines; feed on small crustaceans of plankton.

SPRATS OR SPRATS (Sprattus) the genus is common in temperate and subtropical waters of Europe, South America, South Australia and New Zealand. Sprats are close to sea herrings of the genus Clupea. They differ from them in a stronger development of keel scales on the belly, forming a spiny keel from the throat to the anus; a dorsal fin less advanced forward, starting farther back than the bases of the ventral fins; a smaller number of rays in the ventral fin (usually 7-8), a smaller number of vertebrae (46-50), floating eggs and other features. Sprats are smaller than sea herring, they are never larger than 17-18 cm. They live up to 5-6 years, but their usual life span is 3-4 years. The sprats of the southern hemisphere have not been studied enough. In the waters of Tierra del Fuego and the Falkland Islands, as well as in the extreme south of South America, lives, found in large flocks and having a length of 14-17 cm, fiery earth sprat (Sprattus fuegensis). The Tasmanian sprat (S. bassensis), whose flocks are common in the deep bays and straits of Tasmania and South Australia in the summer and autumn months, is close to it and will probably be assigned to the same species.

TYULKI OR CASPIAN SPRATS (Clupeonella) the genus contains 4 species of small herring fish that live in the Black, Azov and Caspian Seas and their basins. The belly of the seals is laterally compressed, supplied along its entire length from the throat to the anus 24-31 with strong spiny scales. Pelvic fins approximately under the anterior third of the dorsal fin. In the anal fin, the last two rays are elongated, as in sardines and sardinella. The mouth is upper, toothless, small; the maxillary bone does not extend backward beyond the anterior margin of the eye. Eggs are floating, with a very large purple fat drop, with a large round-yolk space. Vertebrae 39-49. Tyulki are euryhaline and eurythermal fish living both in brackish, up to 13°/00, and in fresh water at temperatures from 0 to 24°C.

Sardines are called species of three genera of marine herring fish - pilchard sardine (Sardina), sardine-sardinops (Sardinops) and sardinella (Sardinella). These three genera are characterized by elongated, protruding in the form of a blade, two posterior rays of the anal fin and the presence of two elongated scales - "wings" - at the base of the caudal fin. In addition, the pilchard sardine and sardinops have radially divergent grooves on the gill cover. Real sardines (pilchard and sardinops) are common in warm temperate and subtropical seas, sardinella - in tropical and partly subtropical waters. Sardines reach a length of 30-35 cm, commercial catches are usually 13-22 cm long.

All sardines are marine schooling fish living in upper layers water; They feed on plankton and spawn floating eggs. Sardine eggs have a large round yolk space, and there is a small fat drop in the yolk. Sardines are of great practical importance, replacing sea herring in warm waters.

SARDINES SARDINOPS (Sardinops) genus reach a length of 30 cm and a weight of 150 g and above. The body is thick, the belly is not compressed from the sides. The back is blue-green, the sides and belly are silvery-white, a row of dark spots stretches along each side, up to 15 in number. There are radially diverging furrows on the surface of the gill cover. The number of vertebrae is from 47 to 53.

Sardinops are very similar to a real pilchard sardine. They differ from it in shortened gill rakers at the angle of the fold of the first gill arch, a slightly larger mouth (the posterior edge of the upper jaw extends beyond the vertical of the middle of the eye), and the nature of the scale cover. In sardinops, all scales are the same, of medium size (50-57 transverse rows of scales), while in pilchards, smaller scales are hidden under large scales.

SARDINELLA (Sardinella) the genus contains 16-18 species of sardines in tropical and partly subtropical waters. Only one species (S. aurita) also enters moderately warm seas. Sardinella differs from pilchard sardine and sardinops in having a smooth gill cover, the presence of two protrusions of the anterior edge of the shoulder girdle (under the edge of the gill cover), the absence in most species of dark spots on the side of the body, which are found only in S. sirm, and in the form of a single spot ( not always) in S. aurita. Twelve species of this genus are found in the waters of the Indian Ocean, and in the western Pacific, from East Africa and red sea to Indonesia and Polynesia in the east, and from the Red Sea, India and South China to Southeast Africa, Indonesia and Northern Australia.

Herrings and sardines are called small, up to 15-20 cm long, tropical herring fish with a silvery body compressed from the sides and a scaly keel on the belly. They inhabit the coastal waters of the Indo-West Pacific biogeographic region and Central America. There are none on the eastern shores of the Atlantic Ocean. In structure, these fish are close to sardinella. On the front edge of the shoulder girdle under the gill cover, they also have two rounded lobes protruding forward. The last two rays of the anal fin are slightly elongated, without, however, forming a protruding lobe. Their eggs, like those of sardines, are floating, with a large round-yolk space, with a small fat drop in the yolk. Unlike sardines, they do not have elongated scales at the base of the caudal fin. Their body is laterally compressed, silvery; vertebrae 40-45.

HERRINGS (the genus Herclotsichthys, recently isolated from the genus Harengula) are distributed only within the Indo-West Pacific region: from Japan to Indonesia and Australia, off the coast of the Indian Ocean, off the islands of Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. There are 12-14 species of herring, of which 3-4 species live off the eastern and southeastern coasts of Asia, 4 species live off Northern Australia, 4 species are widespread in the Indian and Western Pacific Ocean, from the Red Sea and East Africa to Indonesia , Polynesia and Northern Australia.

SARDINES (Harengula), as already mentioned, live only in the tropical waters of America. IN Atlantic Ocean there are three kinds; they are very numerous off the coast of Central America, the Antilles, and Venezuela. Along the Pacific coast, from the California coast to the Gulf of Panama, one species is distributed - arena (H. thrissina).

Machuela (Opisthonema) genus. Representatives of this genus are distinguished by a strongly elongated posterior ray of the dorsal fin, sometimes reaching the base of the caudal fin. On this basis, the machuela resembles the round-nosed herring (Dorosomatinae), but its mouth is semi-upper or terminal, the snout is not blunted, and there is no elongated axillary scale above the base of the pectoral fin. The vertebrae of Machuela are 46-48.

It is a purely American genus containing two species.

Also, only in America, off the coast of Brazil, in the sea and in the rivers of Guiana and in the Amazon live peculiar spiky sardines (Rhinosardinia), with two spines on the snout and with a spiky keel on the belly.

NUDE HERRING OR HERRING (Pellonulinae) A subfamily that contains 14 genera and over 20 species of tropical, mainly freshwater herring fish of America (8 genera), the Indo-Malayan archipelago, partly India and Australia. Representatives of this subfamily do not have an adipose eyelid in front of their eyes or it is barely developed, the belly is usually laterally compressed, and the mouth is small. Some species of Australian genera (Potamalosa, Hyperlophus) have a toothed keel from a series of scutes (scales) on the back between the occiput and the dorsal fin. Most of the species in this group are small fish, less than 10 cm long. Particularly small Koriki (Corica, 4 species), living in the waters of India, Indochina and the Indo-Malay archipelago, are especially small. They are not larger than 3-5 cm, their anal fin is divided into two: the anterior, consisting of 14-16 rays, and the posterior - of 2 rays, separated from the anterior by a noticeable gap.

Puzankovye HERRING (Alosinae) Subfamily

The subfamily contains the largest herring fish. Most species of this group are anadromous anadromous, some are brackish, some are freshwater. There are 4 genera with 21 species in this group of herring fish, living in moderately warm and, to a lesser extent, subtropical and tropical waters of the northern hemisphere. The shad herring has a laterally compressed belly with a spiny scaly keel along its medial line; they have a large mouth, the posterior end of the upper jaw extends beyond the vertical of the middle of the eye; there are fatty eyelids on the eyes. These include shads, shells and gudusias. Shads are common in moderately warm coastal marine, brackish and fresh waters of East America and Europe; shells and gudusia live off the coast and partly in the fresh waters of East Africa, South and South-East Asia.

A special group of herring fish close to the American menhaden (Brevoortia) is usually also included in the subfamily of the buzan herring. Apparently, it is more correct to single them out as a separate group or subfamily of comb-scaled herrings, including the American menhaden, nacheta, and the West African bong.

The genus Alosa (Alosa) is of great importance in this group. Species of this genus are characterized by a strongly laterally compressed body with a pointed, toothed ventral keel; two elongated scales - "wings" - at the base of the upper and lower lobes of the caudal fin; radial grooves on the operculum; a noticeable medial notch in the upper jaw, as well as strongly developed fatty eyelids on the eyes. There is usually a dark spot on each side of the body behind the upper edge of the operculum, which in some species is often followed by a row of several spots; sometimes, in addition, under this row there is a second and occasionally a third of a smaller number of spots. Differences in the shape and number of gill rakers are very characteristic of different species and forms of shad, which correspond to differences in the nature of food. Few short and thick gill rakers are characteristic of predatory herrings, numerous thin and long ones are characteristic of plankton-eating herrings. The number of gill rakers on the first arch in shad varies from 18 to 180. The number of vertebrae is 43-59.

Shads are common in coastal, warm-temperate waters of the Atlantic Ocean basin in the northern hemisphere, as well as in the Mediterranean, Black and Caspian Seas. There are 14 species in this genus, grouped into two subgenera: 10 species of the main form of the genus true shad (Alosa) and 4 species of threshing (Pomolobus). In real shads, the height of the cheek is greater than its length, in grinders it is equal to or less than its length. Two types of true shad live in the waters of the east coast North America(Alosa sapidissima, A. ohioensis), two - off the western coasts of Europe, North Africa and the Mediterranean Sea (A. alosa, A. fallax), two species - in the basins of the Black and Caspian Seas (A. caspia, A. kessleri) , four species - only in the Caspian Sea (A. brashnikovi, A. saposhnikovi, A. sphaerocephala, A. curensis). All four species of grinders (Alosa (Pomolobus) aestivalis, A. (P.) pseudoharengus, A. (P.) mediocris, A. (P.) chrysochloris) live in the waters of America. Many types of shad fall into more or less forms - subspecies, races, etc. According to the biology of reproduction, four groups of species and forms of the genus shad are distinguishable: anadromous, semi-anadromous, brackish and freshwater. Anadromous live in the sea, and for spawning rise to the upper and middle reaches of the rivers (anadromous anadromous); semianadromous spawn in the lower reaches of rivers and in adjacent pre-estuary slightly saline areas of the sea; brackish water live and spawn in brackish sea water. Some Atlantic-Mediterranean anadromous species also form local lake forms (subspecies), permanently living in fresh water. In the waters of America Western Europe, Mediterranean and Black Sea-Azov basins live anadromous and semi-anadromous species, as well as their freshwater forms; in the Caspian basin - anadromous, semi-anadromous and brackish water species. Unlike the Atlantic-Mediterranean shads, the Black Sea-Azov and Caspian shads do not form lacustrine freshwater forms; at the same time, there are three anadromous and one semi-anadromous species among the shads of the Black Sea-Azov basin, and one anadromous (2 forms), one semi-anadromous (4 forms) and four brackish-water species are represented in the Caspian Sea.

In the Black Sea and Caspian shad, caviar matures and is spawned in three portions, with intervals between spawnings of 1-1.5 weeks. The number of eggs in each serving is usually from 30 to 80 thousand.

Eggs in species of the genus Alosa are semi-pelagic, floating up in the course or on the bottom, partly weakly sticking (in American threshers and in the Caspian elmen shad). The shell of semi-pelagic eggs is thin, in bottom eggs it is denser and impregnated with adhering silt particles. Like sardine eggs, shad eggs have a large or medium round yolk space, but unlike sardines, as a rule, they do not contain a fat drop in the yolk. The size of the eggs in different species is different: from 1.06 in the big-eyed shad to 4.15 mm in the Volga herring.

Grinding (genus Alosa, subgenus Pomolobus) live only in the Atlantic waters of North America. Two species - serospinka or elewife (A. pseudoharengus) and blueback (A. aestivalis) - multi-stamens (38-51 stamens on the lower half of the first gill arch), mainly plankton-eating, distributed in more northern regions, from the Gulf of St. Lawrence and New Scotia to Cape Hatterasai, North Florida. They reach a length of 38 cm, have a dark blue or gray-green back and silvery sides with a dark spot on both sides behind the top of the gill cover ("shoulder spot"). These are migratory anadromous fish, keeping in flocks in the sea not far from the coast and rising low into the rivers for spawning. Spawning in rivers, mainly in April - May. Caviar bottom, with a small round-yolk space, the shell is weakly sticky, impregnated with silt particles. Being gregarious, these species are of significant commercial importance and, although their numbers have declined over the past half century, they are still quite numerous. They were also the object artificial breeding: fish close to spawning were planted in tributaries devastated by overfishing, resulting in spawning and resumption of fish approach in these tributaries. Greyback was inadvertently successfully introduced along with juvenile shad into Lake Ontario, where it took root, multiplied and spread from there to other lakes.

Two more southern, also close to each other species of grinders - hickory (A. mediocris) and greenback (A. chrysochloris) - reach larger sizes: greenback 45 and hickory - 60 cm. Hickory is distributed from the Bay of Fendi, mainly from Cape Cod, to North Florida, greenback - in the rivers flowing into the northern part of the Gulf of Mexico, west of Florida. These species have a smaller number of gill rakers (18-24 on the lower half of the first gill arch) and feed mainly on small fish. Hickory has a row of dark spots on each side. Hickory lives in the sea near the coast, enters in flocks in estuaries and lower reaches of rivers for spawning from late April to early June.

Spawns eggs in the fresh water of intertidal rivers. The caviar is sinking, weakly sticking, but easily swept up by the current, the eggs have a medium-sized round-yolk space, several small fat drops are distinguishable in the yolk. The greenback lives in the fast upper tributaries of rivers, descending into both brackish water and the sea. Spawning and migration are not well understood.

HILSA (Hilsa) Genus replaces shad in tropical waters. Species of this genus are common in coastal sea waters and in the rivers of East Africa, South and Southeast Asia, from Natal to Pusan (South Korea). There are 5 species in this genus, which are anadromous fish entering rivers for spawning from the sea. The shells are close to shads in the form of a laterally compressed body; scaly keel on the belly; fatty eyelids covering the eye in the anterior and posterior thirds; missing teeth (also poorly developed in many shads); according to the silvery color of the body and the presence in some species of a dark “shoulder” spot on both sides on the side behind the upper edge of the gill cover (in juveniles of some species there are also a number of dark spots on the side, like a shad). Unlike the shad, the sleeves do not have elongated tail scales - “wings” - at the base of the caudal fin; the eggs near the sleeve are semi-pelagic, having a large round-yolk space and floating up in the current, like in shad; unlike shad eggs, they contain a few fat droplets in the yolk; the shell of the eggs is single, like in shad, or double.

There are 5 types of sleeves.

CESTED HERRING (Brevoortiinae) Subfamily

They differ from all other herring scales with a comb-like posterior margin and two rows of enlarged scales or scutes along the midline of the back, from the occiput to the beginning of the dorsal fin. They are also characterized by the presence of 7 rays in the ventral fins. They are close to buzanka herrings in the form of a high body laterally compressed, with a toothed scaly keel along the belly, in the presence of a medial notch in the upper jaw, and in the absence of teeth in the jaws in adults.

In terms of the structure of eggs, menhaden differ from shad, but are close to sardines: their eggs contain a fat drop in the yolk and are pelagic, not semi-pelagic. In contrast to the buzan herring, comb-scaled ones are marine fish that live and breed in the sea at a salinity of at least 20 ° / 00. There are three genera of comb-scaled herrings: menhaden, the closely related machete, and bong.

MENHADEN (Brevoortia) the genus is distributed in the coastal waters of the Atlantic coast of America, from Nova Scotia to the Gulf of Mexico and from southern Brazil to Argentina. Menhaden reach a length of 50 cm, the usual length is 30-35 cm. The back is green-blue, the sides are silvery-yellowish, behind the top of the gill cover on both sides of the body there is a black shoulder spot, behind which in some species on the sides there is a varying number of smaller dark spots, often arranged in two, three or more rows. The pelvic fins of menhaden are small, located under the dorsal fin, they have 7 rays.

There are 7 types of menhaden: 3 - off the east coast of North America, from Nova Scotia to Florida, 2 - in the northern part of the Gulf of Mexico, 2 - off the coast of Brazil, from the Rio Grande to the Rio de la Plata.

Blunt or goiter herring (Dorosomatinae) Subfamily

Blunt-nosed or goitered herrings, having a short, high, laterally compressed body, with a serrated ventral keel of scales, represent a peculiar group. Unlike all other herrings, their snout is almost always protruding, bluntly rounded; mouth small, lower or semi-lower; the stomach is short, muscular, reminiscent of the goiter in birds. Anal fin rather long, from 18-20 to 28 rays; the pelvic fins are located under the dorsal or closer to the anterior end of the dorsal body, they have 8 rays. Almost all species have a dark "shoulder" spot on the side, behind the top of the gill cover; many, in addition, have 6-8 narrow dark longitudinal stripes along the sides. In most genera and species, the last (posterior) ray of the dorsal fin is elongated into a long thread; only in species of two genera (Anodontostoma, Gonialosa) is it not elongated. These are fish-eating and phytoplankton-feeding fish of bays, estuaries, rivers of tropical and partly subtropical latitudes, which are not of great nutritional value due to their bony nature. However, in many areas they are harvested for food, mainly in dried and dried form and in the form of canned food. There are 7 genera with 20-22 species in total in this group. Blunt-nosed herring (or blunt-nosed herring) are common in the waters of North and Central America (genus Dorosoma, 5 species), South and Southeast Asia and Western Oceania (Melanesia) (genera Nematalosa, Anodontostoma, Gonialosa, 7 species in total), East Asia (genera Coposirus, Clupanodon, Nematalosa, 3 species), Australia (genera Nematalosa, 1 species, and Fluvialosa, 7 species). The more northern species - the Japanese conosier and the American dorosoma - have 48-51 vertebrae, while the rest have 40-46.

American Dorosoma (Dorosoma) reach a length of 52 cm, the usual size is 25-36 cm. Dorosoma southern (D. petenense) lives from the river. Ohio (approximately 38-39 ° N) to Florida and the Gulf of Mexico and along the coast south to Honduras. Mexican (D. anale) - in the Atlantic basin of Mexico and in Northern Guatemala; Nicaraguan dorosoma (D. chavesi) - in lakes Managua and Nicaragua; western dorosoma (D. smith) lives only in the rivers of Northwestern Mexico.

In the Yellow Sea, there is another species of blunt-nosed herring - Japanese nematalose (Nematalosa japonica). The remaining species of the genus Nematalosa (Nematalosa) live off the Indian Ocean coast of South Asia, from Arabia (N. arabica) to Malaya, and in the Pacific Ocean - off the coast of Indonesia, Vietnam, the Philippines and Taiwan (N. nasus), as well as in the northwestern coast of Australia (N. come). Nemataloses live mainly in bays, lagoons and estuaries, and enter rivers.

In the rivers of India and Burma, there are two more species of a special freshwater genus of tufted herring Gonialosa (Gonialosa); This small fish, up to 10-13 cm in length.

Australia's freshwater herring is especially richly represented. There are up to six species of them here, sometimes separated into a special genus Fluvialosa (Fluvialosa). They are common in the rivers and lakes of Australia; some species are small, up to 13-15 cm, others reach a rather large size, up to 39 cm in length. The seventh species of freshwater fluvialose is found in the upper tributaries of the Strickland River in New Guinea. As mentioned above, in addition to these freshwater species of round snouts, there is one marine coastal species of nematalose (Nematalosa come) in the waters of Northern Australia.

Keel-throated or saw-bellied herring (Pristigasterinae) Subfamily

This group of purely tropical genera of herring fish is characterized by a body strongly compressed from the sides, pointed along the ventral edge, with a saw-toothed "ventral keel" of scales, extending forward to the throat. The mouth of almost all is upper or semi-upper. Their anal fin is long, containing more than 30 rays; pelvic fins small (in Pellona and Ilisha) or absent (in other genera). This group includes 8 genera with 37 species.

By appearance different genera of saw-bellied herring represent different levels of specialization. The fish of the Pellona and Ilisha genera already mentioned are the least specialized and somewhat reminiscent in appearance of the shad or hulls. They have ventral and dorsal fins, the body is high or medium height, the anal fin contains from 33 to 52 rays and usually begins behind the middle of the body. Pellona is widespread along the shores of the Indian Ocean, going south further than all other saw-bellied herrings: in the west to Natal near Southeast Africa, in the east to the Gulf of Carpentaria and Queensland (Australia). It is numerous off the eastern coast of India. The genus Ilisha contains about 60% of the total number of saw-bellied herring species - 23 species. 14 species of ilish live off the coast of India, Indochina and Indonesia, of which 4 are distributed further north, along Southeast Asia up to the South China Sea; further north, in the East China Sea, there are 2 species, and in the Yellow and Japan - one.

Of the remaining 5 genera of saw-bellied herring, three genera are American, found either only off the Pacific coast of Central America (genus Pliosteostoma), or represented by one species in Pacific waters and one or two species in Atlantic waters (genera Odontognathus, Neopisthopterus). One genus (Opisthopterus) is represented by three species off the Pacific coast of the Isthmus of Panama and Ecuador and two species in Indian Ocean and in the southwestern Pacific off the coasts of India, Indochina and Indonesia.

Fish are classified according to a number of criteria: lifestyle, fishing season, sex, physiological state, fatness, nutrition, length or weight.

AB - commercial length of fish; AB - standard size; 1 - gill cover; 2 - dorsal fin hard; 3 - soft dorsal fin; 4 - tail fin; 5 - side line; 6 - anal fin; 7 - anus; 8 - ventral fins; 9 - pectoral fins

The length of the fish is measured in a straight line from the top of the snout to the beginning of the middle rays of the caudal fin (Fig. 20). Some small and low-value fish are classified as small things of groups I, II or III. A number of fish species listed in the standard are not subdivided according to length and weight. Shortest length fish that is allowed to be caught is set by fishing regulations and international conventions.

IN commodity practice Fish are classified according to species and families.

A species is a collection of individuals occupying a certain geographical area and having a number of inherited traits that distinguish this species from related species. Species close in a number of characteristics are combined into genera, and the latter into families.

IN trade practice classification of fish by families is carried out mainly according to external features. Strictly scientific classification of fish by families is made according to many features. The characteristics of the main features of the families of fish most commonly found in commercial practice are given below.

herring family has a laterally compressed body, covered with easily falling scales. Lateral line is absent. The dorsal fin is single, the caudal fin is deeply notched. Herring is of commercial importance: Atlantic, Pacific, Danube, Don, Dnieper, Kerch, Volga, Chernospinka, Azov shad, Salaka, Sardines, Sardinella, Sardinops (Ivasi); sprats: Caspian, Baltic (sprats), Black Sea, Tyulka.

anchovy family has a cigar-shaped body, similar in size to small herring. This family includes the Hamsa of the Azov-Black Sea, Anchovy.

Sturgeon family has an elongated-fusiform body, with five rows of bone formations - bugs: two abdominal, two thoracic, one dorsal. Elongated snout, With four mustaches. Dorsal fin single, caudal fin unequally lobed. Of commercial importance are: beluga, kaluga, sturgeon, spike, stellate sturgeon, sterlet. Soviet scientists, by crossing beluga and sterlet, obtained bester, which is bred in reservoirs.

Carp family has a high, laterally compressed body, covered with tightly fitting scales, sometimes naked. The dorsal fin is one, soft, the lateral line is well expressed, the teeth are pharyngeal. This family includes fish of inland waters: carp, carp, crucian carp, roach, vobla, ram, bream, white-eye, blue bream, barbel, silver carp, grass carp, buffalo, fish, shemaya.

salmon family has a high body, laterally compressed, covered with small scales. There are two dorsal fins, the second is adipose. The lateral line is well defined. Chum salmon, pink salmon, sockeye salmon, chinook salmon, Caspian salmon, salmon, trout, whitefish, vendace, muksun, and omul are of commercial importance.

Family smelt has an oblong body shape, with easily falling scales, an incomplete lateral line. There are two dorsal fins, the second is adipose. Main species: European smelt, smelt, capelin.

perch family has two dorsal fins, the first one is spiny, the anal fin has three spiny rays, the lateral line is straight, there are transverse stripes on the sides. Common species: perch, pike perch, ruff.

scad family has a flattened body shape. Lateral line with a sharp bend in the middle, in some species covered with bony spines. There are two dorsal fins, the first is prickly, the second is soft and long. There are two spines in front of the anal fin. The tail stalk is thin. The horse mackerels of the Azov-Black Sea, oceanic, caranx, seriola, pompano, lychia, vomer are of commercial importance.

cod family subdivided into subfamilies of cod-like and burbot-like. The former have three dorsal and two anal fins, the latter two dorsal and one anal. These are marine fish, with the exception of burbot. They have a well-defined lateral line. The pelvic fins are located under the pectoral or in front, many representatives have a mustache on the chin.

The body shape is close to torpedo-shaped. Cod, haddock, navaga, saithe, pollock, blue whiting, burbot, polar cod are of commercial importance.

mackerel family has an elongated fusiform body, a thin caudal peduncle. There are two dorsal fins, behind the second dorsal and anal fins there are four to seven additional fins. Black Sea mackerel, common mackerel, and Japanese mackerel are of commercial importance. Mackerels are sold under the names "Mackerel of the Azov-Black Sea", "Mackerel of the Far East", "Mackerel Kuril", "Mackerel Atlantic".

According to the shape of the body and the arrangement of the fins, tuna, bonito, mackerel are similar to mackerel, the latter have one dorsal fin and additional fins.

flounder family has a flat body, flattened from the back to the abdomen, the eyes are located on one side of the head. Dorsal and anal fins along the entire length of the body. Commercial value halibut black, common, arrow-toothed; flounder sharp-headed and river.

Of the fish of other families, the following are of commercial importance.

sea bass golden, beaked, Pacific from the scorpion family have a large head, an oblong, laterally compressed body, often red in color, one dorsal fin, often prickly in the front.

catfish striped and spotted from the catfish family

have one long soft dorsal fin, a round large head, the body in the back is laterally compressed.

Terpugi northern, southern, toothed have a spindle-shaped body, one spiny dorsal fin, highly developed anal and pectoral fins.

ice fish from the white-blooded family, it has a large head with an elongated snout, two lateral lines, the color is light green, the blood is colorless, since it contains copper instead of iron.

Butterfish and butterfish small fish from the stromatiaceae family, they have a flattened high body, one soft long dorsal fin of the same size and shape as the anal one, the lateral line repeats the bend of the ridge.

Marble and green notothenia, squama, toothfish from the nototheniaceae family have a large head, two spiny dorsal fins, a long anal, large pectoral fins, the body is thickened in the front.

Slab, captain, umbrine- fish from the croaker family, have a high body, a humpback in front of the back, one dorsal fin, divided by a deep notch, the anterior part is prickly, the lateral line is well expressed.

grenadiers from the macrourid family, they have an elongated, fading body in the tail section in the form of a thread. There are two dorsal fins.

They also catch such species of fish as catfish, pike, lamprey, eel, gobies, Argentina, mullet, eelpout, prystipoma, bluefish from families with similar names, sea bream from the Brahm family; merrow, stone perch - from the serran family.

Herring fish have a laterally compressed or valky body, usually silvery, with a dark blue or greenish back. There is one dorsal fin, usually in the middle part of the back, the pectorals are located at the lower edge of the body, the ventral fins are located in the middle third of the abdomen (sometimes absent), the caudal fin is notched. Very characteristic is the absence of perforated scales of the lateral line on the body, which occur only in number 2-5 immediately behind the head. Along the midline of the belly, many have a keel of pointed scales. The teeth on the jaws are weak or missing. The swim bladder is connected by a canal to the stomach, and two processes extend from the anterior end of the bladder, penetrating into the ear capsules of the skull. There are upper and lower intermuscular bones. Herring - schooling plankton-eating fish; Most of the species are marine, some are anadromous, and a few are freshwater. They are widely distributed from the subantarctic to the Arctic, but the number of genera and species is large in the tropics, decreases in temperate waters, and single species are common in cold waters. For the most part, these are small and medium-sized fish, less than 35-45 cm, only a few anadromous herring can reach a length of 75 cm. In total, there are about 50 genera and 190 species of herring. This family provides about 20% of the world fish catch, taking the first place among the fish families in terms of catch, along with anchovies. In this large and important family, 6-7 subfamilies are distinguished, some of which are accepted by some scientists as special families. HERRING ROUNDS (Dussumierinae) subfamily Round-belly herrings differ from other herrings in that their belly is rounded and there are no keel scales along its midline. Mouth small, terminal. The jaws, palate and tongue are covered with numerous small teeth. This group includes 7 genera with 10 species distributed in tropical and subtropical waters of the Pacific, Indian and western Atlantic Oceans. Two groups of forms (genera) are distinguished among round-bellied herring: larger multivertebral (48-56 vertebrae) fish, reaching a length of 15-35 cm (Dussumieria, Etrumeus), and smaller few-vertebral (30-46 vertebrae) fish, 5-11 cm length (Spratelloides, Jenkinsia, Echirava, Sauvagella, Gilchristella).

Kibango herrings (Spatelloides) are small, most numerous among round-bellied herrings, reaching only 10 cm in length. Everywhere in the coastal regions of the vast expanses of tropical waters of the Indian and Pacific Oceans (except only the eastern part of the Pacific Ocean), these fish are attracted at night by the light of lamps from the ship in huge numbers. Kibinago herrings enter small bays for spawning in summer. Unlike Dussumieria and the usual round-bellied herring (Urum), which spawn floating eggs, kibinago herrings lay peculiar bottom eggs that stick to grains of sand, the yolk of which is provided with a group of small fat droplets. Despite their small size, kibinago herring is eaten fresh, dried and in the form of a delicious fish paste. In addition, they are used as excellent live bait for skipjack tuna. Manhua (Jerrkinsia) is very close to the kibinago herring. Two or three species of manhua live along the Atlantic coast of the islands and the isthmus of Central America from the Bahamas, Florida and Mexico to Venezuela, as well as near Bermuda. It is even smaller, only up to 6.5 cm long, but, like the kibinago, it has a silvery stripe running along its sides from head to tail; it stays in coves with sandy bottoms and lays the same kind of sticky bottom eggs. Manhua is specially caught in Cuba to lure skipper tuna, and the lack of it adversely affects the tuna fishery. Species of other genera of round-bellied herring are small herrings living in bays and estuaries off the coast of East Africa, Madagascar and India. Clupeinae or Herring Subfamily This subfamily is the most important group of herring fish, including northern sea herring, sardines, sardinella, sprats, seals and other genera. There are about 12 genera in total. Sea herring (Clupea) inhabit the temperate waters of the northern hemisphere (boreal region) and adjacent seas of the Arctic Ocean, and in the southern hemisphere they live off the coast of Chile. Sea herring are schooling plankton-eating fish, usually up to 33-35 cm in length. Scales cycloid, easily falling off. Keel scales are poorly developed. The sides and abdomen are silvery, the back is blue-green or green. They lay bottom sticky eggs on the ground or algae. Most of the sea herring live near the coast, only a few races go beyond the shelf during the feeding period. Among sea herrings, there are both those that make long-distance migrations with passive resettlement of larvae and fry, return migrations of growing fish and feeding and spawning wanderings of adults, and those that form local herds confined to marginal seas; there are also lacustrine forms living in brackish water bodies semi-enclosed or completely isolated from the sea.

Currently, there are three types of sea herring - Atlantic, or multi-vertebral, eastern, or few-vertebral, and Chilean herring. MANDUFIA (Ramnogaster) - three species of herring of this genus live in the waters of Uruguay and Argentina. The body of the mandufis is laterally compressed, the belly is convex, with a toothed keel of scales equipped with spikes, the mouth is small, upper; the ventral fins are shifted further forward than in herring and sprats, their bases are in front of the base of the dorsal fin. These are small fish, about 9-10 cm long, common in coastal waters, estuaries and rivers. Flocks of mandufias are found in brackish waters and enter rivers along with flocks of aterines; feed on small crustaceans of plankton. SPRATS OR SPRATS (Sprattus) the genus is distributed in temperate and subtropical waters of Europe, South America, South Australia and New Zealand. Sprats are close to sea herrings of the genus Clupea. They differ from them in a stronger development of keel scales on the belly, forming a spiny keel from the throat to the anus; a dorsal fin less advanced forward, starting farther back than the bases of the ventral fins; a smaller number of rays in the ventral fin (usually 7-8), a smaller number of vertebrae (46-50), floating eggs and other features. Sprats are smaller than sea herring, they are never larger than 17-18 cm. They live up to 5-6 years, but their usual life span is 3-4 years.

The sprats of the southern hemisphere have not been studied enough. In the waters of Tierra del Fuego and the Falkland Islands, as well as in the extreme south of South America, lives, found in large flocks and having a length of 14-17 cm, fiery earth sprat (Sprattus fuegensis). The Tasmanian sprat (S. bassensis), whose flocks are common in the deep bays and straits of Tasmania and South Australia in the summer and autumn months, is close to it and will probably be assigned to the same species. TYULKI OR CASPIAN SPRATS (Clupeonella) the genus contains 4 species of small herring fish that live in the Black, Azov and Caspian Seas and their basins. The belly of the seals is laterally compressed, supplied along its entire length from the throat to the anus 24-31 with strong spiny scales. Pelvic fins approximately under the anterior third of the dorsal fin. In the anal fin, the last two rays are elongated, as in sardines and sardinella. The mouth is upper, toothless, small; the maxillary bone does not extend backward beyond the anterior margin of the eye. Eggs are floating, with a very large purple fat drop, with a large round-yolk space. Vertebrae 39-49. Tyulki are euryhaline and eurythermal fish living both in brackish, up to 13°/00, and in fresh water at temperatures from 0 to 24°C. Sardines are called species of three genera of marine herring fish - pilchard sardine (Sardina), sardine-sardinops (Sardinops) and sardinella (Sardinella). These three genera are characterized by elongated, protruding in the form of a blade, two posterior rays of the anal fin and the presence of two elongated scales - "wings" - at the base of the caudal fin. In addition, the pilchard sardine and sardinops have radially divergent grooves on the gill cover. Real sardines (pilchard and sardinops) are common in warm temperate and subtropical seas, sardinella - in tropical and partly subtropical waters. Sardines reach a length of 30-35 cm, commercial catches are usually 13-22 cm long.

All sardines are marine schooling fish living in the upper layers of the water; They feed on plankton and spawn floating eggs. Sardine eggs have a large round yolk space, and there is a small fat drop in the yolk. Sardines are of great practical importance, replacing sea herring in warm waters. SARDINES SARDINOPS (Sardinops) genus reach a length of 30 cm and a weight of 150 g and above. The body is thick, the belly is not compressed from the sides. The back is blue-green, the sides and belly are silvery-white, a row of dark spots stretches along each side, up to 15 in number. There are radially diverging furrows on the surface of the gill cover. The number of vertebrae is from 47 to 53. Sardinops are very similar to a real pilchard sardine. They differ from it in shortened gill rakers at the angle of the fold of the first gill arch, a slightly larger mouth (the posterior edge of the upper jaw extends beyond the vertical of the middle of the eye), and the nature of the scale cover. In sardinops, all scales are the same, of medium size (50-57 transverse rows of scales), while in pilchards, smaller scales are hidden under large scales. SARDINELLA (Sardinella) the genus contains 16-18 species of sardines in tropical and partly subtropical waters.

Only one species (S. aurita) also enters moderately warm seas. Sardinella differs from pilchard sardine and sardinops in having a smooth gill cover, the presence of two protrusions of the anterior edge of the shoulder girdle (under the edge of the gill cover), the absence in most species of dark spots on the side of the body, which are found only in S. sirm, and in the form of a single spot ( not always) in S. aurita. Twelve species of this genus live in the waters of the Indian Ocean, and in the western part of the Pacific Ocean, from East Africa and the Red Sea to Indonesia and Polynesia in the east, and from the Red Sea, India and South China to Southeast Africa, Indonesia and Northern Australia. . Herrings and sardines are called small, up to 15-20 cm long, tropical herring fish with a silvery body compressed from the sides and a scaly keel on the belly. They inhabit the coastal waters of the Indo-West Pacific biogeographic region and Central America. There are none on the eastern shores of the Atlantic Ocean. In structure, these fish are close to sardinella. On the front edge of the shoulder girdle under the gill cover, they also have two rounded lobes protruding forward. The last two rays of the anal fin are slightly elongated, without, however, forming a protruding lobe. Their eggs, like those of sardines, are floating, with a large round-yolk space, with a small fat drop in the yolk. Unlike sardines, they do not have elongated scales at the base of the caudal fin. Their body is laterally compressed, silvery; vertebrae 40-45. HERRINGS (the genus Herclotsichthys, recently isolated from the genus Harengula) are distributed only within the Indo-West Pacific region: from Japan to Indonesia and Australia, off the coast of the Indian Ocean, off the islands of Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. There are 12-14 species of herring, of which 3-4 species live off the eastern and southeastern coasts of Asia, 4 species live off Northern Australia, 4 species are widespread in the Indian and Western Pacific Ocean, from the Red Sea and East Africa to Indonesia , Polynesia and Northern Australia. SARDINES (Harengula), as already mentioned, live only in the tropical waters of America.

There are three species in the Atlantic Ocean; they are very numerous off the coast of Central America, the Antilles, and Venezuela. Along the Pacific coast, from the California coast to the Gulf of Panama, one species is distributed - arena (N. thrissina). Machuela (Opisthonema) genus. Representatives of this genus are distinguished by a strongly elongated posterior ray of the dorsal fin, sometimes reaching the base of the caudal fin. On this basis, the machuela resembles the round-nosed herring (Dorosomatinae), but its mouth is semi-upper or terminal, the snout is not blunted, and there is no elongated axillary scale above the base of the pectoral fin. The vertebrae of Machuela are 46-48. It is a purely American genus containing two species. Also, only in America, off the coast of Brazil, in the sea and in the rivers of Guiana and in the Amazon live peculiar spiky sardines (Rhinosardinia), with two spines on the snout and with a spiky keel on the belly. NUDE HERRING OR HERRING (Pellonulinae) A subfamily that contains 14 genera and over 20 species of tropical, mainly freshwater herring fish of America (8 genera), the Indo-Malayan archipelago, partly India and Australia. Representatives of this subfamily do not have an adipose eyelid in front of their eyes or it is barely developed, the belly is usually laterally compressed, and the mouth is small. Some species of Australian genera (Potamalosa, Hyperlophus) have a toothed keel from a series of scutes (scales) on the back between the occiput and the dorsal fin. Most of the species in this group are small fish, less than 10 cm long. Particularly small Koriki (Corica, 4 species), living in the waters of India, Indochina and the Indo-Malay archipelago, are especially small. They are not larger than 3-5 cm, their anal fin is divided into two: the anterior, consisting of 14-16 rays, and the posterior - of 2 rays, separated from the anterior by a noticeable gap. Puzankovye HERRING (Alosinae) Subfamily The subfamily contains the largest herring fish in size. Most species of this group are anadromous anadromous, some are brackish, some are freshwater. There are 4 genera with 21 species in this group of herring fish, living in moderately warm and, to a lesser extent, subtropical and tropical waters of the northern hemisphere.

The shad herring has a laterally compressed belly with a spiny scaly keel along its medial line; they have a large mouth, the posterior end of the upper jaw extends beyond the vertical of the middle of the eye; there are fatty eyelids on the eyes. These include shads, shells and gudusias. Shads are common in moderately warm coastal marine, brackish and fresh waters of East America and Europe; shells and gudusia live off the coast and partly in the fresh waters of East Africa, South and Southeast Asia. A special group of herring fish close to the American menhaden (Brevoortia) is usually also included in the subfamily of the buzan herring. Apparently, it is more correct to single them out as a separate group or subfamily of comb-scaled herrings, including the American menhaden, nacheta, and the West African bong. The genus Alosa (Alosa) is of great importance in this group. Species of this genus are characterized by a strongly laterally compressed body with a pointed, toothed ventral keel; two elongated scales - "wings" - at the base of the upper and lower lobes of the caudal fin; radial grooves on the operculum; a noticeable medial notch in the upper jaw, as well as strongly developed fatty eyelids on the eyes. There is usually a dark spot on each side of the body behind the upper edge of the operculum, which in some species is often followed by a row of several spots; sometimes, in addition, under this row there is a second and occasionally a third of a smaller number of spots. Differences in the shape and number of gill rakers are very characteristic of different species and forms of shad, which correspond to differences in the nature of food. Few short and thick gill rakers are characteristic of predatory herrings, numerous thin and long ones are characteristic of plankton-eating herrings. The number of gill rakers on the first arch in shad varies from 18 to 180. The number of vertebrae is 43-59. Shads are common in coastal, warm-temperate waters of the Atlantic Ocean basin in the northern hemisphere, as well as in the Mediterranean, Black and Caspian Seas.

There are 14 species in this genus, grouped into two subgenera: 10 species of the main form of the genus true shad (Alosa) and 4 species of threshing (Pomolobus). In real shads, the height of the cheek is greater than its length, in grinders it is equal to or less than its length. Two species of real shad live in the waters of the eastern coast of North America (Alosa sapidissima, A. ohioensis), two - off the western coasts of Europe, North Africa and in the Mediterranean Sea (A. alosa, A. fallax), two species - in the basins of the Black and Caspian Seas (A. caspia, A. kessleri), four species - only in the Caspian Sea (A. brashnikovi, A. saposhnikovi, A. sphaerocephala, A. curensis). All four species of grinders (Alosa (Pomolobus) aestivalis, A. (P.) pseudoharengus, A. (P.) mediocris, A. (P.) chrysochloris) live in the waters of America. Many types of shad fall into more or less forms - subspecies, races, etc. According to the biology of reproduction, four groups of species and forms of the genus shad are distinguishable: anadromous, semi-anadromous, brackish and freshwater. Anadromous live in the sea, and for spawning rise to the upper and middle reaches of the rivers (anadromous anadromous); semianadromous spawn in the lower reaches of rivers and in adjacent pre-estuary slightly saline areas of the sea; brackish water live and spawn in brackish sea water. Some Atlantic-Mediterranean anadromous species also form local lake forms (subspecies), permanently living in fresh water. In the waters of America, Western Europe, the Mediterranean and Black Sea-Azov basins, anadromous and semi-anadromous species live, as well as their freshwater forms; in the Caspian basin - anadromous, semi-anadromous and brackish water species. Unlike the Atlantic-Mediterranean shads, the Black Sea-Azov and Caspian shads do not form lacustrine freshwater forms; at the same time, there are three anadromous and one semi-anadromous species among the shads of the Black Sea-Azov basin, and one anadromous (2 forms), one semi-anadromous (4 forms) and four brackish-water species are represented in the Caspian Sea. In the Black Sea and Caspian shad, caviar matures and is spawned in three portions, with intervals between spawnings of 1-1.5 weeks. The number of eggs in each portion is usually from 30 to 80 thousand. The eggs of species of the genus Aloza are semi-pelagic, floating on the current or bottom, partly weakly sticking (in American grinders and in the Caspian ilmen shad). The shell of semi-pelagic eggs is thin, in bottom eggs it is denser and impregnated with adhering silt particles. Like sardine eggs, shad eggs have a large or medium round yolk space, but unlike sardines, as a rule, they do not contain a fat drop in the yolk. The size of the eggs in different species is different: from 1.06 in the big-eyed shad to 4.15 mm in the Volga herring. Grinding (genus Alosa, subgenus Pomolobus) live only in the Atlantic waters of North America. Two species - serospinka or elewife (A. pseudoharengus) and blueback (A. aestivalis) - multi-stamens (38-51 stamens on the lower half of the first gill arch), mainly plankton-eating, distributed in more northern regions, from the Gulf of St. Lawrence and New Scotia to Cape Hatterasai, North Florida. They reach a length of 38 cm, have a dark blue or gray-green back and silvery sides with a dark spot on both sides behind the top of the gill cover ("shoulder spot"). These are migratory anadromous fish, keeping in flocks in the sea not far from the coast and rising low into the rivers for spawning. Spawning in rivers, mainly in April - May. Caviar bottom, with a small round-yolk space, the shell is weakly sticky, impregnated with silt particles. Being gregarious, these species are of significant commercial importance and, although their numbers have declined over the past half century, they are still quite numerous. They were also the object of artificial breeding: fish close to spawning were planted in tributaries devastated by overfishing, resulting in spawning and resumption of fish approach in these tributaries. Greyback was inadvertently successfully introduced along with juvenile shad into Lake Ontario, where it took root, multiplied and spread from there to other lakes. Two more southern, also close to each other species of grinders - hickory (A. mediocris) and greenback (A. chrysochloris) - reach larger sizes: greenback 45 and hickory - 60 cm. Hickory is distributed from the Bay of Fendi, mainly from Cape Cod, to North Florida, greenback - in the rivers flowing into the northern part of the Gulf of Mexico, west of Florida.

These species have a smaller number of gill rakers (18-24 on the lower half of the first gill arch) and feed mainly on small fish. Hickory has a row of dark spots on each side. Hickory lives in the sea near the coast, enters in flocks in estuaries and lower reaches of rivers for spawning from late April to early June. Spawns eggs in the fresh water of intertidal rivers. The caviar is sinking, weakly sticking, but easily swept up by the current, the eggs have a medium-sized round-yolk space, several small fat drops are distinguishable in the yolk. The greenback lives in the fast upper tributaries of rivers, descending into both brackish water and the sea. Spawning and migration are not well understood. HILSA (Hilsa) Genus replaces shad in tropical waters. Species of this genus are distributed in coastal sea waters and in the rivers of East Africa, South and Southeast Asia, from Natal to Busan (South Korea). There are 5 species in this genus, which are anadromous fish entering rivers for spawning from the sea. The shells are close to shads in the form of a laterally compressed body; scaly keel on the belly; fatty eyelids covering the eye in the anterior and posterior thirds; missing teeth (also poorly developed in many shads); according to the silvery color of the body and the presence in some species of a dark “shoulder” spot on both sides on the side behind the upper edge of the gill cover (in juveniles of some species there are also a number of dark spots on the side, like a shad). Unlike the shad, the sleeves do not have elongated tail scales - “wings” - at the base of the caudal fin; the eggs near the sleeve are semi-pelagic, having a large round-yolk space and floating up in the current, like in shad; unlike shad eggs, they contain a few fat droplets in the yolk; the shell of the eggs is single, like in shad, or double. There are 5 types of sleeves.

Gudusia (GUDUSIA) - freshwater fish, very close to the passage sleeves. Gudusia are very similar to shells, but are easily distinguished by smaller scales (80-100 transverse rows instead of 40-50 for shells). Guduzi live in the rivers and lakes of Pakistan, Northern India (to the north of the Kistna River, approximately 16-17 ° N), Burma. Gudusia are medium-sized fish, up to 14-17 cm in length. Two species of this genus are known - Indian Gudusia (Gudusia chapra) and Burmese Gudusia (G. variegata). CESTED HERRINGS (Brevoortiinae) Subfamily Distinguished from all other herring scales by having a combed posterior margin and two rows of enlarged scales or scutes along the midline of the back, from the occiput to the beginning of the dorsal fin. They are also characterized by the presence of 7 rays in the ventral fins. They are close to buzanka herrings in the form of a high body laterally compressed, with a toothed scaly keel along the belly, in the presence of a medial notch in the upper jaw, and in the absence of teeth in the jaws in adults. In terms of the structure of eggs, menhaden differ from shad, but are close to sardines: their eggs contain a fat drop in the yolk and are pelagic, not semi-pelagic. In contrast to the buzan herring, comb-scaled ones are marine fish that live and breed in the sea at a salinity of at least 20 ° / 00. There are three genera of comb-scaled herrings: menhaden, the closely related machete, and bong. MENHADEN (Brevoortia) the genus is distributed in the coastal waters of the Atlantic coast of America, from Nova Scotia to the Gulf of Mexico and from southern Brazil to Argentina. Menhaden reach a length of 50 cm, the usual length is 30-35 cm. The back is green-blue, the sides are silvery-yellowish, behind the top of the gill cover on both sides of the body there is a black shoulder spot, behind which in some species on the sides there is a varying number of smaller dark spots, often arranged in two, three or more rows. The pelvic fins of menhaden are small, located under the dorsal fin, they have 7 rays. There are 7 types of menhaden: 3 - off the east coast of North America, from Nova Scotia to Florida, 2 - in the northern part of the Gulf of Mexico, 2 - off the coast of Brazil, from the Rio Grande to the Rio de la Plata. Blunt-nosed or goitered herrings (Dorosomatinae) Subfamily Blunt-nosed or goitered herrings, having a short, high, laterally compressed body, with a ventral serrate keel of scales, represent a peculiar group. Unlike all other herrings, their snout is almost always protruding, bluntly rounded; mouth small, lower or semi-lower; the stomach is short, muscular, reminiscent of the goiter in birds. Anal fin rather long, from 18-20 to 28 rays; the pelvic fins are located under the dorsal or closer to the anterior end of the dorsal body, they have 8 rays. Almost all species have a dark "shoulder" spot on the side, behind the top of the gill cover; many, in addition, have 6-8 narrow dark longitudinal stripes along the sides. In most genera and species, the last (posterior) ray of the dorsal fin is elongated into a long thread; only in species of two genera (Anodontostoma, Gonialosa) is it not elongated. These are fish-eating and phytoplankton-feeding fish of bays, estuaries, rivers of tropical and partly subtropical latitudes, which are not of great nutritional value due to their bony nature. However, in many areas they are harvested for food, mainly in dried and dried form and in the form of canned food. There are 7 genera with 20-22 species in total in this group. Blunt-nosed herring (or blunt-nosed herring) are common in the waters of North and Central America (genus Dorosoma, 5 species), South and Southeast Asia and Western Oceania (Melanesia) (genera Nematalosa, Anodontostoma, Gonialosa, 7 species in total), East Asia (genera Coposirus, Clupanodon, Nematalosa, 3 species), Australia (genera Nematalosa, 1 species, and Fluvialosa, 7 species). The more northern species - the Japanese conosier and the American dorosoma - have 48-51 vertebrae, while the rest have 40-46. American Dorosoma (Dorosoma) reach a length of 52 cm, the usual size is 25-36 cm. Dorosoma southern (D. petenense) lives from the river. Ohio (approximately 38-39 ° N) to Florida and the Gulf of Mexico and along the coast south to Honduras. Mexican (D. anale) - in the Atlantic basin of Mexico and in Northern Guatemala; Nicaraguan dorosoma (D. chavesi) - in lakes Managua and Nicaragua; western dorosoma (D. smith) lives only in the rivers of Northwestern Mexico. in the Yellow Sea, another species of blunt-nosed herring is found - the Japanese nematalose (Nematalosa japonica). The remaining species of the genus Nematalosa (Nematalosa) live off the Indian Ocean coast of South Asia, from Arabia (N. arabica) to Malaya, and in the Pacific Ocean - off the coast of Indonesia, Vietnam, the Philippines and Taiwan (N. nasus), as well as in the northwestern coast of Australia (N. come). Nemataloses live mainly in bays, lagoons and estuaries, and enter rivers.

In the rivers of India and Burma, there are two more species of a special freshwater genus of tufted herring Gonialosa (Gonialosa); These are small fish, up to 10-13 cm in length. Australia's freshwater herring is especially richly represented. There are up to six species of them here, sometimes separated into a special genus Fluvialosa (Fluvialosa). They are common in the rivers and lakes of Australia; some species are small, up to 13-15 cm, others reach a rather large size, up to 39 cm in length. The seventh species of freshwater fluvialose is found in the upper tributaries of the Strickland River in New Guinea. As mentioned above, in addition to these freshwater species of round snouts, there is one marine coastal species of nematalose (Nematalosa come) in the waters of Northern Australia. Keel-throated or saw-bellied herrings (Pristigasterinae) Subfamily This group of purely tropical genera of herring fish is characterized by a body strongly compressed from the sides, pointed along the ventral edge, with a saw-toothed “ventral keel of scales, extending forward to the throat. The mouth of almost all is upper or semi-upper. Their anal fin is long, containing more than 30 rays; pelvic fins small (in Pellona and Ilisha) or absent (in other genera). This group includes 8 genera with 37 species. In appearance, different genera of saw-bellied herring represent different levels of specialization. The fish of the Pellona and Ilisha genera already mentioned are the least specialized and somewhat reminiscent in appearance of the shad or hulls.

They have ventral and dorsal fins, the body is high or of medium height, the anal fin contains from 33 to 52 rays and usually begins behind the middle of the body. Pellona is widespread along the shores of the Indian Ocean, going south further than all other saw-bellied herrings: in the west to Natal near Southeast Africa, in the east to the Gulf of Carpentaria and Queensland (Australia). It is numerous off the eastern coast of India. The genus Ilisha contains about 60% of the total number of saw-bellied herring species - 23 species. 14 species of ilish live off the coast of India, Indochina and Indonesia, of which 4 are distributed further north, along Southeast Asia up to the South China Sea; further north, in the East China Sea, there are 2 species, and in the Yellow and Japan - one. Of the remaining 5 genera of saw-bellied herring, three genera are American, found either only off the Pacific coast of Central America (genus Pliosteostoma), or represented by one species in Pacific waters and one or two species in Atlantic waters (genera Odontognathus, Neopisthopterus). One genus (Opisthopterus) is represented by three species off the Pacific coast of the Isthmus of Panama and Ecuador and two species in the Indian Ocean and the southwestern Pacific, off the coasts of India, Indochina and Indonesia.

The herring family includes about a hundred that live from the shores of the Arctic to the Antarctic itself. Most of them are very popular in cooking and are caught all over the globe. Let's find out which fish belong to the herring family. How are they characterized and how are they different from other species?

General features of the family

The herring family includes medium and small sizes. They feed on aquatic plants and microorganisms, mainly as part of plankton, as well as tiny fish. Very often, herrings unite in numerous flocks of hundreds or even thousands of individuals. So, they provide themselves with protection from predators, because in a group the chances of being eaten are greatly reduced.

Like the species of fish of the cyprinid family, herring lack adipose fins. They have an oval laterally compressed body, painted in gray and bluish hues. The tail of fish usually consists of two identical parts, between which there is a deep notch. There is only one fin on the back, the lateral line is absent or has a short length. There are no scales on the head of herrings, and in some species it is not even on the body.

Species of the herring fish family: list

They prefer salty waters and are inhabitants of the seas and open ocean spaces. However, there are also inhabitants of fresh rivers and lakes in the herring family, as well as anadromous species that swim in unsalted water bodies exclusively during migrations. Most of them live in the tropics and subtropics, they are much less common in cold seas.

Many species of fish of the herring family are important fishery objects and are regularly present on store shelves. The most famous representatives:

European sardine;
Pacific herring;
menhaden atlantic;
big-eyed sprat;
Black Sea-Caspian kilka;
ilisha eastern;
alasha;
shad;
herring;
iwashi;
round-bellied herring.

Atlantic herring

This fish of the herring family has many names. She is called Murmansk, Norwegian, oceanic, multivertebral and, finally, Atlantic. It lives in the northern regions of the Atlantic Ocean, swimming in the Baltic Sea, the Gulf of Bothnia, the White, Barents and Labrador and other seas.

It is colored with a dark green or bluish back. In size, the fish reaches an average of 25 centimeters, some individuals grow up to 40-45 centimeters. It can weigh up to 1 kg. It received the name "multi-vertebral" because of the large number of vertebral ridges (55-60 pieces), which distinguishes it from other brothers. She has well-developed palatine teeth, and the lower jaw is noticeably pushed forward.

In warm seasons, herring keeps close to the surface, no deeper than 200-300 meters, in winter it sinks lower into the water column. It represents one of the most common species of the herring family, and marine fish in general. The Atlantic herring keeps in large flocks and feeds mainly on crustaceans, for example, amphipods and kalyanoids. Sometimes it eats small fish and even its fellows.

herring

Salaka, or Baltic herring, is considered a subspecies of the Atlantic herring. It lives in the Baltic Sea, as well as in nearby low-salinity and fresh water bodies, such as the Curonian and Kalingrad lagoons. The fish is also found in some lakes in Sweden.

She has an elongated body, a small rounded head and a slightly rounded belly. At the age of two to four years, the fish reaches 15-16 centimeters in length, and by the end of life it can grow up to 20 centimeters. There are also larger representatives, which are often considered a separate subspecies and are called giant herring. They can even reach 40 centimeters in length and feed on small fish like sticklebacks, while small Baltic herring consume only plankton. In the waters of the Baltic Sea, they have several competitors that also belong to the herring family. These are sprats and sprats, which also include plankton from copepods. cladocerans.

Salaka is actively used in the food industry. It is harvested throughout the year. The fish is suitable for salting, smoking, frying and baking. Canned food and preserves are often made from it under the names "sprats in oil" or "anchovies".

Far East sardine

Ivasi, or Far Eastern sardine, is a valuable commercial fish of the herring family. It belongs to the sardinops genus and is similar to the Californian and South American sardines. The body of the fish is very elongated. Her belly is painted in a light silver color, and her back is very dark and has a blue tint. The transition between the two colors is indicated by a thin blue stripe with black spots along it.

The size of the fish usually does not exceed 20-30 centimeters. Moreover, its weight is only 100-150 grams. She has a thin tail with a deep notch in the middle. At the end it is painted in a dark, almost black color.

The sardine loves warmth and stays in the upper layers of the water. It is collected in large shoals, the length of which can reach 40 meters. This fish lives in the western part of the Pacific Ocean and is found off the coast Far East Russia, Japan and Korea. In warm periods, it can reach Kamchatka and the northern tip of Sakhalin. Sardine does not tolerate a sharp drop in temperature. A sudden cold snap of 5-6 degrees can lead to mass death of fish.

The Far Eastern sardine is divided into two subtypes, which differ in places and spawning periods. The southern subtype spawns near the Japanese island of Kyushu, sailing to it already in December-January. Northern sardines begin spawning in March, swimming up to the shores of the Korean Peninsula.

Atlantic menhaden

The Atlantic menhaden is a medium sized fish. Adults, as a rule, reach a length of 20-32 centimeters, but some can grow up to 50 centimeters. The menhaden has a larger head and higher flanks than the herring and sardine. The color of the fish is light below and dark in the back area. The sides are covered with small unevenly arranged scales. Behind the gill cover is a large black spot, followed by six more rows of small spots.

In our area, menhaden is not the most famous representative of the herring family. It lives in the Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of North America. Approximately 90% of the total volume of this fish caught is in the United States. Its habitual diet consists of plankton, algae and small copepods. The menhaden itself is often prey for whales, waterfowl and saithe.

In winter, the fish stays in the open ocean, not diving to a depth below 50 meters. With the advent of the warm season, it moves towards the shore, often swimming in closed reservoirs. Menhaden is not found in fresh waters, but can live in low-salinity. In summer, the fish swims in the shelf area, in deltas and near the mouths of rivers.

This very oily and nutritious fish is a valuable commercial species. However, it is not easy to catch her. To do this, you need to take into account a lot of factors related to the movement and speed of sea currents, wind direction and others. external factors.

Tyulki is a genus of small fish of the herring family that live in fresh and brackish waters. The Black Sea-Caspian kilka, or sausage, grows on average up to 7-8 centimeters, and the maximum size reaches 15 centimeters. In this case, the puberty of the fish occurs when the length of its body reaches 5 centimeters. Due to its miniature size, it becomes a prey even for medium-sized species. It is hunted by flounders, pike perches and other members of the herring family. The kilka itself feeds exclusively on plankton.

The tulka is painted in silver or golden yellow, and its back has a greenish or blue tint. The fish lives in the Black, Caspian and Azov seas, swimming in the water column. During spawning, she visits low-salt areas of the seas, enters their estuaries, as well as the Dnieper and Danube.

Migration towards the main spawning grounds takes place in April-May. During such seasonal movements, fish are usually caught. It is consumed in salted, smoked and dried form, and is also used in agricultural products.

European sprat

Sprat is a small commercial fish of the herring family, painted in silver-gray shades. In size, it is usually slightly larger than a sprat and reaches puberty only when it grows up to 12 centimeters in length. Maximum dimensions fish are 15-16 centimeters. Spawning time of fish falls on the spring-summer period. Then it moves away from the coast and throws eggs directly into the sea to a depth of 50 meters. Like other small fish of the herring family, it feeds on plankton and fry.

European sprat, or sprat, includes three subspecies: northern (seas of Western and Southern Europe), Black Sea (Adriatic and Black Sea) and Baltic (Riga and Finnish Gulfs of the Baltic Sea). Canned fish with butter is very tasty and popular at the festive table. For such preparation, the Baltic subspecies is usually used - it is larger and fatter than the rest. Pies are usually made from the Black Sea sprat or they are salted whole. In wildlife, it is a valuable source of energy for dolphins, beluga whales and big fish.

Alasha

Alasha, or sardinella, is a medium-sized fish that lives in warm tropical and subtropical waters. It inhabits the waters of the Atlantic - from the shores of Gibraltar to Republic of South Africa, from Massachusetts in the USA to the coast of Argentina. The fish lives in the Caribbean, near the Bahamas and the Antilles. Because of this, it is also called the tropical sardine.

The sides and belly of the alasha are golden yellow, and its back has a green tint. Outwardly, this fish of the herring family resembles an ordinary European sardine, differing from it in a more elongated body and a convex belly. On average, it grows up to 25-35 centimeters long. It reaches its maximum size at the age of five, and already in the first or second year of life, it begins puberty.

Sardinella feeds on plankton and stays in the upper layers of the ocean. It usually swims at a depth of 50-80 meters, but from time to time it can go down to 350 meters. Due to living in warm reservoirs, she does not wait for the onset of spring, but spawns. all year round. The fish lays eggs in the shallow waters of lagoons and river estuaries, where the fry then develop.

american shad

The American or Atlantic shad is one of the largest marine fish of the herring family. On average, it grows up to 40-50 centimeters. However, the maximum length of the caught fish reached 76 centimeters, and its weight was about five kilograms. The shad is painted with a dark blue tint in the back. Its body is flattened from the sides and stretched forward, and the belly is slightly convex and rounded. Behind the gills is a row of black dots, decreasing in size as they move away towards the tail.

Initially, the shad's homeland was the waters of the Atlantic from the island of Newfoundland to the Florida peninsula. Over time, it was successfully acclimatized off the eastern shores of the Pacific Ocean, and also in some areas. But the shad does not live in fresh waters. There it is migratory and appears only during the spawning season from March to May. The rest of the time, the fish lives in the salty waters of the seas and oceans.

Despite the impressive size of the shad, the basis of its diet is plankton, small crustaceans and fry. In rivers, it can feed on the larvae of various insects. The spawning of the fish occurs after reaching the age of four years. In spring, females go to shallow water and release up to 600 thousand eggs without attaching them to any substrate. Inhabitants of more southern regions usually die immediately after spawning. Fish in the northern part of the range, on the contrary, return to the open sea in order to produce new offspring the next year.

Eastern Ilisha

Another tropical representative of the family is the ilisha herring. It lives in the warm waters of the Indian and Pacific Oceans and is found mainly in the Yellow, Java and East China Seas. It calmly tolerates low salinity, so it often spawns in shallow waters near river mouths. To lay eggs, the ilisha gathers in large flocks and migrates already as part of a group. After spawning, the shoals disintegrate, and the fish swim one by one away from the coast.

Ilisha belongs to the large herring species: the maximum size can be 60 centimeters. It has a relatively small head with a protruding lower jaw. The body of the fish is painted in a gray-silver color with a dark back and dark edging of the caudal fins. It also has a dark gray spot on the only dorsal fin.

round belly herring

The round belly genus includes about ten species of small and medium-sized fish. They all live in the tropical and subtropical waters of the Indian, Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. They differ from other members of the family in their spindle-shaped rounded body and the absence of keeled scales on the belly. These are popular commercial fish, which are caught for pickling and canning. They are also eaten fried and boiled.

Ordinary roundbelly live in the northwestern part of the Atlantic from the Bay of Fundy off the coast of the United States to the Gulf of Mexico. Like most herrings, they approach shallow waters only in spring and summer, and return to the open sea when it gets colder. They stay close to the surface and feed mainly on zooplankton.

Round bellies grow up to 33 centimeters in length. At the age of two years, when the fish reach sexual maturity, they reach a length of 15-17 centimeters. Interestingly, females begin to spawn even in winter. Therefore, in the summer, when the water gets warmer, not only adults swim to the shores, but also slightly grown fry. They swim at a depth of 20-40 meters without sinking below. Fish live for about 6 years.

spotted sardinella

Spotted sardinella live exclusively in tropical waters with a fairly high salinity. They are found from the coasts of East Africa and Madagascar to Australia, Oceania and the southern islands of Japan. Fish live in the Red, East China and other seas of the range. For spawning, they make short migrations within the water bodies in which they live.

This fish has an elongated body, resembling a spindle in shape. The maximum size is 27 centimeters, although usually sardinella only reach 20 centimeters. It is mainly caught for local consumption. Unlike most fish of the herring family, spotted sardinella do not unite in flocks and shoals, but swim singly, dispersing across the oceans. It can be salted or canned from it, but fish are not caught on a large commercial scale.

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