106 



BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF FISHERIES 



is pale gray instead of black, and there is also a slight difference in outline, the hickory 

 shad being the deeper of the tM^o, with a more tapering head, its lower jaw projecting 

 relatively farther. The hickory shad is distinguishable from the common alewife 

 (in which the hning of the belly is Hkewise gray) by tapering fonv^ard from its greatest 

 depth, whereas the latter is heavy bodied foi-ward of the doreal and ventral fins, as 

 well as by its sharp head, longer jaw, smaller dorsal fin, only about one-half as many 

 gih rakers (about 30 on the first gill arch), and, under favorable circumstances, by 

 its color, being faintly marked on the sides with longitudinal stripes. The projecting 

 lower jaw of the hickory shad marks it off from tlie shad. 



Size. — This, next to the shad, is the largest of our anadromous herrings, growing 

 to a length of 2 feet and a weiglit of 23/^ pounds. 



General range. — Atlantic coast of North America from the Bay of Fundy to 

 Florida, running up into fresh water to spawn. 



Occurrence in the Gvlfof Maine, — The hickory shad is a more southern fish than 

 either of the alewives, the Gulf of Maine marking the extreme northern limit to 

 its range. So far as known, it does not breed in any of the rivers north of Cape 



.KSfi^ 



Fig. 43. — Hickory shad (Fomolobus mediocris) 



Cod and is so rare a fish within its limits that although recorded from the mouth 

 of the Bay of Fundy (Huntsman doubts this record), from Casco Bay, off Portland, 

 at the mouths of various I'ivers in Maine where odd lish are taken from time to tune 

 by gill-netters, in Boston Harbor, at Provincetown, and at North Truro in Massa- 

 chusetts, we have not seen a single specunen among the thousands of herring and 

 alewives that have passed through our hands. West of Cape Cod, however, it is 

 much more plentiful, 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. 



Habits. — Nothing is known of the liabits of the hickory shad in the sea to differ- 

 entiate it from its close relatives, the alewives, except that it is more of a fish eater, 

 as might be expected from its large mouth and strong jaws. Launce, anchovies, 

 cunners, herring, scup, silversides, and other small fish, squid, fish eggs, and even 

 small crabs, as well as sundry pelagic Crustacea, have been found in the stomachs of 

 hickory shad at Woods Hole by Vinal Edwards. 



