were subsequently collected by fishermen using gill 

 nets farther up the Connecticut River estuary (river 

 km 26; S. Gephard pers. commun.^; Fig. 1) and en- 

 trained at the Millstone nuclear power plant in Nan- 

 tic Bay, CT (C. Gauthier pers. commun.^; Fig. 1). 

 In October 1985, a single specimen was captured at 

 the Lawrence fishway on the Merrimack River, 

 Lawrence, MA. This specimen has been deposited 

 into the Museum of Zoology, University of Massa- 

 chusetts. 



During late May and June of 1985 and 1986, over 

 70 subadult gizzard shad were observed at the 

 Holyoke Dam Fishlift on the Connecticut River in 

 Holyoke, MA (river km 139.4) approximately 69 km 

 above the head of the tide (Fig. 1). Four live and 

 one dead gizzard shad— two females, two males, and 

 one unknown— were collected at the fishlift; all have 

 been deposited into the Museum of Zoology, Univer- 

 sity of Massachusetts. Mean total length of the live 

 fish was 418 mm (range 395-460 mm) and all were 

 sexually mature. The mean total length of the live 

 fish is near the maximum size reported for this 

 species from freshwater (Miller 1960; Bodola 1965) 

 and larger than the Mohawk River specimens dis- 

 cussed by George (1983). Later in July 1986, a single 

 juvenile gizzard shad (50 mm TL) was captured in 

 the Northampton Oxbow of the Connecticut River 

 (river km 150, T. Savoy pers. commun.*; Fig. 1). The 

 specimen is in the collections of the Connecticut 

 Department of Environmental Protection. A follow- 

 up survey in September by O'Leary at the same 

 locality produced no juveniles, but two small adults 

 (300 and 348 mm TL) were captured and these two 

 specimens have been divided among the Museum of 

 Zoology, University of Massachusetts and the 

 Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard Univer- 

 sity. The collected juvenile specimen provides 

 evidence that the species is breeding in the fresh- 

 water portion of the Connecticut River, and the 

 co-occurrence of adults suggests that the Northamp- 

 ton Oxbow is an area where reproduction is occur- 

 ring. 



Cooper (1983) suggested that the gizzard shad has 

 been extending its range northward along the east 

 coast of North America in response to warming 

 climate. Whether the species has moved into the 



^S. Gephard, Fishery Biologist, Marine Fisheries Office, State 

 of Connecticut, Department of Environmental Protection, P.O. 

 Box 248. Waterford, CT 06835, pers. commun. August 1985. 



'C. Gauthier, Scientist, Northeast Utilities Environmental 

 Laboratory, P.O. Box 128, Waterford, CT 06385, pers. commun. 

 August 1985. 



■•T. Savoy, Fishery Biologist, Marine Fisheries Office, State of 

 Connecticut, Department of Environmental Protection, P.O. Box 

 248, Waterford, CT 06385, pers. commun. August 1986. 



Hudson River estuary (Dew 1974) while migrating 

 northward or has entered the river from Lake Erie 

 through the Mohawk River (Erie Canal) (George 

 1983) is unresolved. The species could have entered 

 the Connecticut River only from the estuary as no 

 inland connection between the Connecticut River 

 and the Great Lakes or the Hudson River exists. The 

 same argument would apply for the origin of other 

 species encountered along the New England coast. 

 The lack of any sightings of gizzard shad prior to 

 1985 at the Holyoke fishlift leads us to believe that 

 the 1985 and 1986 migrations represent the first in- 

 disputable movement into freshwaters of gizzard 

 shad from a marine stock occurring off the southern 

 New England coast. These findings support 

 Cooper's (1983) contention that the gizzard shad is 

 extending its range northward along the eastern 

 North American coastline. 



Acknowledgments 



We thank Steven Gephard and Thomas Savoy, 

 Connecticut Department Environmental Protection; 

 Christine Gauthier, Northeast Utilities Service Com- 

 pany; and Stephen Henry, Massachusetts Division 

 of Fish and Game for providing information on giz- 

 zard shad collections. We also thank Alan Richmond 

 for assistance in the field. 



Literature Cited 



BODOLA, A. 



1965. Life history of the gizzard shad, Dorosomxi cepedianum 

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 Breder, C. M., Jr. 



1938. The species of fish in New York Harbor. New York 

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 Cooper, E. L. 



1983. Fishes of Pennsylvania and the Northeastern United 

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 Dew, C. B. 



1974. Comments on the recent incidence of the gizzard shad 

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 George, C. J. 



1983. Occurrence of the gizzard shad in the lower Mohawk 

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 Miller, R. R. 



1956. Origin and dispersal of the alewdfe, Alosa pseudoharen- 

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