A New Edible Shad 



By K M H l{ S () N S T IM N (I H A M 



S<-ientifi(' Assistant, rnitcd States Hurcnii of I'lsliorics 



POSSIHIiY the cynics may liiid yrist for 

 their mill in this situation. The sliad, 

 which on the Atlantic coast is almost 

 as imich sought after as Kipling's "Old Man 

 Kangaroo," is despised on the Mississipj)! 

 River. It adds to the humor of the situation 

 that an effort was made forty-five years ago 

 to introduce the Atlantic coast shad to the 

 great river. The inland fish is not identical 

 with the coast species but it is so much like 

 it that the two were confounded by scien- 

 tists, and there are now specimens in the 

 National Museum which were wrongly iden- 

 tified as the coast species. Because it was 

 first scientifically described from Ohio Kiver 

 specimens, the fish is called Ohio shail (Alo.sa 

 oJiicnsis). But it was taken in numbers 

 from the Mississippi River at Keokuk, Iowa, 

 in 1914 and 1915. 



There are three forms living with th? 

 Ohio shad which may be confused with it. 

 There is no occasion for confusing it with 

 the gizzard shad or mud shad {Dorosoma 

 cepedianum) which is found principally in 

 fjuiet waters and has a very small mouth. 

 The mooneyes are easily distinguished by the 

 absence of sawlike scutes along the ventral 

 edge. To distinguish the Ohio shad from 

 the river herring (Pomolobus chrysochloris) 

 requires more care. In general appearance 

 the two fish are similar, but the herring has 

 a protruding lower jaw, as shown in the 

 illustration. By opening the mouth the gill 

 arches may be seen and these are entirely 

 different. The herring has from 30 to 54 

 rakers in the outer arch, and the raker at the 

 angle of the arch is between one fifth and 

 one twelfth as long as the head ; the larger 

 number and greater relative length are 

 found only in young fish. The shad, of which 

 only adults have been examined, has from fin 

 to 75 rakers in the outer arch, the one at the 

 angle being about one quarter as long as the 

 hearl. A third distinguishing feature is the 

 color of the tip of the lower jaw, which in 

 the herring is olive in life (blackish in pre- 

 servative), while in the Ohio shail it is pink 

 (straw color in preservative). 



The describer of the fish. Dr. B. W. Ever- 

 inann, stated that those who are familiar 



with the .\tiantic shad find this one not at 

 all inferior, and the present writer is able, 

 from repeated trials, to concur in this opin- 

 ion. Although eaten to some extent along 

 the Ohio River, this fish seems never to be 

 iis(>d on the Mississippi. Several people liv- 

 ing in Keokuk were persuaded to try it and 

 one restaurant served it for part of a day. 

 But it was uniformly condemned because of 

 its bones, although it is certainly no worse 



Ciitcliing tlu- "Oliio sliad" in a trammel net 

 near tlie Keokuk dam on tbe Mississippi Kiver. 

 Tliis shad, which reaches a length of nearly 

 two feet and weighs from one to three pounds, 

 is quite as palatable, either fresh or smoked, as 

 tlic in\ich i)ri7.cd Atlantic variety 



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