FISHERY BULLETIN: VOL. 81, NO. 2 



Table 6. — Pigmentation summary for larval and juvenile Alosa sapidissima, and a comparison of distinguishing pigment characters with A. 



aestivalis and A. pseudoharengus. 



Development stage 

 and pigment area 



American shad, 

 Alosa sapfdissima 



Blueback herring, 

 Alosa aestivalis 



Alewife, 

 Alosa pseudoharengus 



Preflexion larvae 

 Head region 



Yolk-sac region 



Notochord 

 Gut, trunk, and fin 

 region 



Flexion larvae 

 Head region 



Paired and median 

 fins 



Gut and trunk 

 region 



Eye completely pigmented (9.5 mm SL). 



1-9 stellate melanophores on snout (10.72 



mm SL): 3-1 2 stellate melanophores on 



brain (1 1.42 mm SL). 

 4-7 melanophores above yolk sac and over the 



pectoral symphysis and heart (9.3 mm SL). 

 1-4 melanophores (9.8 mm SL). 

 33-38 small melanophores on dorsal surface 



of gut (10.9 mm SL). 



Increased melanophore density over eye, 

 snout, and opercular bone (16-34 stellate 

 melanophores around the eye; 13-15 mm 

 SL). 



1 -3 anal fin stellate melanophores (15-18 mm 

 SL) Dorsal fin; 0-5 melanophores (1 1.8-13 

 mm SL); 10-19 melanophores (15-18 mm 

 SL) 



Pigments contract to a solid line after 1 5 mm 

 SL. Light chromatophores on lateral line (1 3- 

 1 6 mm SL). 



Postflexion larvae and juveniles 



Head region 



Paired and median 

 fins 



Gut and trunk 

 region 



Paired pigment stripes from posterior orbit of 

 eye to caudal peduncle; very heavy pigment 

 around eye (> 1 8.2 mm SL). 



Afial fin: 14-20 stellate melanophores (18-20 

 mm SL); 22-26 stellate melanophores (23-29 

 mm SL); >20 dorsal fin melanophores (>20 

 mm SL). 



Dense concentration of stellate melanophores 

 at anus; hard to distinguish lateral line; 7-23 

 melanophores (17.7-21.9 mm SL); >50 

 melanophores (>23 mm SL). 



Eye completely pigmented (3.1 -4.0 mm TL} 1 . 



Chromatophores scattered on ventral surface 

 of yolk sac 1 . 



Irregular chromatophores below pectoral fin; 

 melanophores, some stellate (5.1 mm TL) 1 ; 4 

 ventral melanophores below pectoral fin (6.0 

 mm TL) 1 . 



Increased melanophore density on snout; 

 scattered melanophores on head and oper- 

 culum (8 8-8.9 mm SL) 4 



Double-line pigmentation at pectoral fin 

 (10.4 mm TL) 1 . 



Small indistinguishable chromatophores on 

 anterior gut; large stellate melanophores on 

 posterior gut (8.8-8 9 mm SL) 4 . 



Large scattered chromatophores around eye 

 and over snout (20.5 mm TL). 



Large indistinguishable blotches of chro- 

 matophores on caudal fin (45 mm TL). 



Defined dorsal rows of melanophores (25.0 

 mm TL) 1 . 



Slightly pigmented at hatch (>4.82 mm TL) 

 fully pigmented (5 1 mm TL) 2 . 



Scattered and irregular chromatophores (3-5 

 mm TL). 



Transparent at hatch 2 ; 2 chromatophores be- 

 low pectoral; 3-6 posterior to pectoral (3.2- 

 4.8 mm TL), generally sparce and irregular; 2 

 series of melanophores on each side of ven- 

 tral line. 



Dense scattered melanophores (9.0 mm TL) 3 

 over snout and between the eyes. 



3 melanophores below pectoral fin (6-10 mm 

 TL) 12 ; melanophores more stellate on cau- 

 dal fin (9.0 mm TL). 



12 melanophores on dorsal surface, anterior 

 gut (6 mm TL) 1 ; 22 melanophores on ventral 

 surface, posterior gut (6 mm TL). 1 Posterior 

 anus pigmentation generally disappears 2 (5- 

 9 mm TL). 



Dense pigment on snout and top of head (29- 

 47.5 mmTL) 1 . 



1 large expanded melanophore between pec- 

 toral fin bases (1 5 mm TL) 1 - 2 . 



Chromatophores increasing on dorsal lateral 

 surface between head and caudal fin (19.1- 

 32.2 mm TL) 1 . 



1 Jones et al. (1 978). 

 2 Cianci (1969). 

 'Chambers et al. (1976). 

 4 Norden (1980) 



River. Bill Twyman, Mike Canada, and Ed 

 Darlington (Harrison Lake National Fish Hatchery, 

 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service) offered technical 

 assistance and advice on the culture of American 

 shad. Mary Anne Foell drew the figures of the larval 

 fish and offered advice on scientific illustrations. The 

 graphs were drafted by the Rio Blanco Oil Shale 

 Company Drafting Department. Marji Randall, 

 Katie Bechtel, and Judy Rodreick typed the many 

 drafts of this manuscript. Funds for this research 

 were provided by the National Marine Fisheries Ser- 

 vice, Northeast Region, through the Anadromous 

 Fish Act (P.L. 89-304). 



LITERATURE CITED 



Ahlstrom, E. H. 



1968. [Book review of| Mansueti, A. J., and J. D. Hardy, 

 Jr., Development of fishes of the Chesapeake Bay region, 

 an atlas of egg, larval, and juvenile stages, Part I. Copeia 

 1968:648-651. 



Berry, F. H., and W. J. Richards. 



1973. Characters useful to the study of larval fishes. Bur. 

 Commer. Fish., Trop. Atl. Biol. Lab. Contrib. 113, 9 p. 



BlGELOW, H. B., AND W. W. WELSH. 



1925. Fishes of the Gulf of Maine. Bull. U.S. Bur. Fish. 

 40(l):l-567. 

 Blair, A. B. 



1976. American shad culture and distribution studies at 

 Harrison Lake National Fish Hatchery. Proceedings of 

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 210. 

 CARSCADDEN, J. E., AND W. C. LEGGETT. 



1975. Life history variations in populations of American 

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 609. 



Chambers, J. R., J. A. Musick, and J. Davis. 



1976. Methods of distinguishing larval alewife from larval 

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Chittenden, M. E., Jr. 



1969. Life history and ecology of the American shad, Alosa 

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 Rutgers univ., New Brunswick, N.J., 471 p. 

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1969. Larval development of the alewife, Alosa pseudo- 



338 



