Ken Schultz's Field Guide to Saltwater Fish - Macaw Pets store

A member of the Clupeidae family of herring, the Atlantic
herring is in the Guinness Book of World Records as the
world’s most numerous fish and is certainly one of the
world’s most valuable fish. It is used by humans in a host of
ways and is extremely important as forage for predator
species.
Identification. The Atlantic herring is silvery with a bluish
or greenish-blue back and an elongated body. The dorsal fin
begins at about the middle of the body, and there are 39 to
47 weakly developed ventral scutes. At the midline of the
belly are scales that form a sharp-edged ridge. Teeth on
the roof of the mouth distinguish the Atlantic herring from
the similar alewife.
Size. Ordinarily less than a foot long, the Atlantic herring
can grow to 18 inches. The all-tackle world record is a 1pound,
1-ounce fish; a 3-pound, 12-ounce record stands for
the skipjack herring.
Life history/Behavior. Atlantic herring usually spawn in
the fall, although in any particular month of the year there
is at least one group of Atlantic herring that moves into
shallow coastal waters to spawn. (Blueback and skipjack
herring, which are anadromous, spawn in coastal rivers in
the spring.) Almost 5 inches long by the end of their first
year, Atlantic herring nearly double their length in 2 years
and reach maturity at age 4 or 5. Schools of herring may
contain billions of individuals. In the western Atlantic, herring
migrate from feeding grounds along the Maine coast
during the autumn to the southern New England–mid-
Atlantic region during the winter, with larger individuals
tending to migrate greater distances.
Food. The Atlantic herring feeds on small planktonic copepods
in its first year, graduating to mainly copepods.
Herring, Atlantic
Clupea harengus
OTHER NAMES
herring; Danish: Atlantisk
sild, sild; Finnish: silakka,
silli; French: hareng de
l’Atlantique; German: allec,
hering; Norwegian: sild;
Polish: sledz; Spanish:
arenque del Atlántico.
Distribution. Atlantic
herring are the most abundant
pelagic fish in cool,
northern Atlantic waters. In
the western Atlantic Ocean,
they are widely distributed
in continental shelf waters
from Labrador to Cape Hatteras
and have been separated
by biologists into Gulf
of Maine and Georges Bank
stocks. A related and similar
species is the blueback herring
(Alosa aestivalis),
which ranges from Nova
Scotia to Florida. The skipjack
herring (A. chrysochloris)
occurs in the Gulf of
Mexico from Texas to the
Florida Panhandle and
ascends the Mississippi River
and some of its tributaries.
Habitat. This species
schools in coastal waters
and has been recorded in
temperatures of 34° to 64°F.
Herring, Atlantic 107