ARTIFICIAL PROPAGATION OF SHAD^ 



By Glen C. Leach, Assistant in Charge of F'ish Culture 



CONTENTS 



Description 459 



Raijgo and ahuri'lnnce 461 



ComiiKTfial inijxirtance 463 



Habits aud life history. 464 



Shad in the ocean 464 



Shad in the rivers 465 



Food - 466 



Spawning 466 



Young shad 467 



Early attempts at shad culture 471 



Susquehanna River ,.. 472 



Delaware River _ 473 



Potomac River 473 



Albemarle Sound 474 



Pacificcoast - 474 



Page 



Artificial propagation .. 475 



Egg collecting 475 



Difficulties encountered in collecting eggs 476 



Climatic conditions and egg collections. 476 



Stripping and fertilizing the eggs . . 476 



Hatchery and equipment 478 



Hatching jars 480 



McDonald jar 480 



Chase jar 481 



Self-centering tube 482 



Preparing jars for operation 482 



Measuring the eggs and fry 484 



Feeding and rearing 485 



Transportation 486 



DESCRIPTION 



The shad is anadromous, a member of the herring family (Clupeidae) , 

 and is closely allied to the river herring or alewif e (Pomolobus) . Two 

 species, Alosa vulgaris and A. Jinta, are indigenous to European 

 waters, Avhile in American waters three species have been recognized. 

 Two of these, A. alahainse, of certain streams of the Gulf of Mexico, 

 and A. oMoensis, of the Ohio River, have little or no commercial 

 value and are not artificially propagated; but the third, Alosa sapi- 

 dissima, is the shad of commercial importance, and it is with this 

 species that this paper deals. 



The shad is the largest, best known, and most valuable member 

 of the herring family in the United States. Its sides are silvery, and 

 it is white below. When fresh from the ocean, it is dark bluish or 

 greenish above, but this is largely lost after the fish enters fresh water 

 at spawning time. There is a dark blotch behind the gill opening, 

 frequently succeeded by a series of similar spots in one or two 

 longitudinal rows, which are more plainly to be seen after the scales 

 have been removed. The ventral fins often have black or dusky 

 edges. The body is covered with large, silvery scales, easily detached, 

 52 to 64 of which occupy the lateral line. The ventral edge of the 

 body is provided with bony scutes or modified scales giving the ab- 

 dominal line a strongly serrated appearance. Twenty-two to twenty- 

 four of these scutes occur in advance of the ventral fins and 12 to 16 

 behind them. The fins are small and weak ; the dorsal is much nearer 



1 Appendix Vni to the ReportoftheU.S. Commissioner of Fisheriesfor 1924. B.F.Doc.No. 981. This 

 document represents a revision and enlargement of the chapter on " The shad " from A Manual of Fish 

 Culture, Based on the Methods of the United States Commission of Fish and Fisheries, with Chapters 

 on the Cultivation of Oysters and Frogs, revised edition, published in 1900. 



459 



