Fishes of the Western North Atlantic 



445 



anal fins 19-24, av. 21.77 (S^); 

 around body 36-45, av. 41.03 (73), 

 beginning with first one just in 

 front of left pelvic fin ; around cau- 

 dal peduncle (slenderest part) 16— 

 20, av. 18.02 (53). 



Scutes: prepelvic 17-20, av. 17.99 (196); 

 postpelvic 10—14, av. 11.76 (197); 

 total ventral 27-32, av. 29.74(196). 



Gill rakers: on first arch, >300 at 



65 mm SL, ca. 350 at 95 mm, and 

 4 1 2 at 157 mm ; very numerous and 

 fine (rakers counted in situ). 



Fin rays: dorsal 10-13, av. 11. 61 (197); 

 caudal 19; anal 25—36, av. 31.32 

 (195); pelvic 8, rarely 7; pectoral 

 14-17, av. 15.52 (288; 144 fish). 



Vertebrae: 48—51, av. 49.83, including 

 urostyle (42). 



Figure 116. Dorosoma cepedianum, from Cumberland River, Tennessee, USNM 20034. After Goode, from 

 drawing by H. L. Todd, somewhat emended. 



No external characteristics will reliably distinguish the sexes. 



Color. In life, body silvery. Bluish over back and upper sides but milky-white on 

 abdomen, often with brassy or golden reflections from scales. About 6-8 horizontal, 

 dark stripes along upper sides above level of middle of shoulder spot, extending from 

 behind head to base of caudal fin. A large, round dark spot behind opercle lustrous 

 purple, prominent in young and half-grown. Dorsal fin of adults nearly uniformly 

 dusky; caudal fin dusky but darkened on its outer third; anal fin with outer 67 "/o 

 dark, the basal third lighter, with melanophores sprinkled over most of fin; pectorals 

 and pelvics with their outer halves darkened, grading to pale basally. Top of head, 

 snout, upper jaw, and upper part of opercle pigmented in young and adult; the rest of 

 head silvery. In young-of-the-year (up to about 4.5 in. TL), dorsal fin sparsely but 

 uniformly sprinkled with chromatophores ; caudal fin similar but with more pigment 

 cells; anal, pectoral, and pelvic fins almost unpigmented. 



Size. The Gizzard Shad is known to attain a total length of 20.5 inches but does 

 not commonly grow longer than 10-14 inches. In a letter dated July 14, 1953, Mr. 



