FISHES OF THE GULF OF MAINE 



101 



Description. — The hickory shad differs rather 

 noticeably from the sea herring in that the point 

 of origin of its dorsal fin is considerably in front of 

 the mid-length of its trunk; in its deep belly (a 

 hickory shad 13'^ in. long is about 4 in. deep but a 

 herring of that length is only 3 in. deep) ; in the fact 

 that its outline tapers toward both snout and tail 

 in side view (fig. 15); and in that its lower jaw 

 projects farther beyond the upper when its mouth 

 is closed; also, by the saw-toothed edge of its belly. 

 Also, it lacks the cluster of teeth on the roof of the 

 mouth that is characteristic of the herring. One 

 is more likely to confuse a hickory shad with a shad 

 or with the alewives, which it resembles in the 

 position of its dorsal fin, in the great depth of its 

 body, in its saw-toothed belly and in the lack of 

 teeth on the roof of the mouth. But it is marked 

 off from all of these by its projecting lower jaw. 

 There is also a small difference in outline, its head 

 tapering more to the snout, as seen in side view 

 (fig. 45) . It has only about half as many gill rakers 

 (19 to 21 on the lower limb of the first gill arch) 

 as either the alewife or the blueback; and its upper 

 jaw, reaching back only about as far as opposite 

 the center of its eye, is shorter than that of the 

 shad in which it reaches as far as the rear edge of 

 the eye. 



Under favorable circumstances its color, also, 

 is characteristic, for it is faintly marked on the 

 sides with dusky longitudinal stripes, and the tip 

 of its snout is dusky. 



Size. — This is the largest of our anadromous 

 herrings next to the shad, growing to a length of 

 2 feet. A fish about 15 inches long weighs a 

 pound, one of 18 inches, 2 pounds. 



Habits.— Nothing is known of the habits of the 

 hickory shad in the sea to differentiate it from its 

 close relatives of the herring tribe except that it is 

 more of a fish eater. Launce, anchovies, dinners, 

 herring, scup, silversides, and other small fish, 

 squid, fish eggs, and even small crabs have been 

 found in the stomachs of hickory shad at Woods 

 Hole, as well as sundry pelagic Crustacea. It 

 will strike a small spinner or other artifical lure, 

 and it gives a good fight when hooked. In the 

 southern parts of its range it is described as running 

 up fresh streams, with the alewives in late winter 

 and early spring to spawn. 64 But it appears not 

 to do so in the streams tributary to Chesapeake 



« Smith (N. C. Oeol. Econ. Surv; vol. 2, 1897, p. 121) describes it as doing 

 so in the streams tributary to Pamlico Sound, N. C, where it is plentiful. 



Bay, though it is found in practically all of them. 

 This opens the interesting possibilitj 7 that the 

 "green" fish found in Chesapeake Bay, leave the 

 Bay, perhaps to spawn in salt water. 65 



General range. — Atlantic coast of North America 

 from the Bay of Fundy to Florida. 



Occurrence in the Gulf oj Maine. — The hickory 

 shad is a southern fish, with the Gulf of Maine as 

 the extreme northern limit to its range. It is 

 recorded in scientific literature only at North 

 Truro; at Provincetown ; at Brewster; in Boston 

 Harbor; off Portland; in Casco Bay; and from the 

 mouth of the Bay of Fundy (Huntsman doubts 

 this record), and it usually is so uncommon within 

 our limits that we have seen none in the Gulf 

 ourselves. But in 1932 anglers, trolling for striped 

 bass and mackerel off the Merrimac River, met a 

 run of hickory shad. 66 



It is much more plentiful west of Cape Cod, 

 being common from spring throughout summer and 

 early autumn at Woods Hole, where as many as 

 3,500 have been taken at a single lift of one trap. 

 In 1919 the Massachusetts catch of hickory shad, 

 practically all from the south coast, amounted to 

 12,800 pounds, and none are listed for Massa- 

 chusetts for any subsequent year. 



Alewife Pomolobus pseudoharengus (Wilson) 1811 

 lapproximate date] 



Gaspereau; Sawbelly; Kyak; Branch herring; 

 Fresh-water herring; Grayback 



Jordan and Evermann, 1896-1900, p. 426. 



Description. — The alewife is distinguishable at 

 a glance from the sea herring by the greater depth 

 of its body, which is three and one-third times as 

 long as deep (an alewife of 13^ inches is about 

 4 inches deep; a herring that long has a depth of 

 only 3 inches) also by the position of its dorsal 

 fin, the point of origin of which is considerably 

 nearer to the tip of the snout than to the point of 

 origin of the central rays of the tail fin. Further- 

 more, the alewife is much more heavily built 

 forward than the herring, and the serrations on 

 the midline of its belly are much stronger and 

 sharper (hence the local name "sawbelly"), so 

 much so that a practiced hand can separate 



«' Hildebrand and Schroeder, Bull., U.S. Bur. Fish., vol. 43, 1928, p. 84. 



w The Museum of Comparative Zoology received one from this run from 

 Dr. J. C. Phillips, caught by him off the northern end of Plum Island, October 

 2, 1932. 



