204 NEW YORK STATE MUSEIUM 



than long; jaws wholly toothless (except in young); upper jaw 

 with a sharp, deep notch at tip, the premaxillaries meeting at 

 a very acute angle. Vertebrae 56 (in A 1 o s a a 1 o s a), other- 

 wise as in P o m 1 o b u s , to which genus A 1 o s a is yerj 

 closely allied. Species three, of the north Atlantic, ascending 

 rivers; highly valued as food fishes. Though very full of small 

 bones, the flesh is white and rich, but not oily. 



115 Alosa sapidissima (Wilson) 

 Shad 



Clupea sapidissima vVilson, Rees's New Cyclopedia, IX, about 1811, no 

 pagination, no date; Rafinesque, Amer. Month. Mag. II, 205, Jan. 

 1818, says Wilson first distinguished and named the Shad; McDonald 

 in Fish & Fish. Ind. U. S. I, 594, pis. 212, 213, 1881; Bean, Fishes 

 Penna. 60, pi. 2, 1893; Cheney, 4th Ann. Rep. N. Y. Comm. Fish, 

 colored plate facing p. 8, 1899. 



Clupea alosa Mitchill, Trans. Lit. & Phil. Soc. N. Y. I, 449, 1815. 



Alosa praestaUlis De Kay, N. Y. Fauna, Fishes, 255, pi. 15, fig. 41, 1842; 

 Stoeer, Hist. Fish. Mass. 154, pi. XXVI, fig. 2, 1867. 



Alosa sapidissima Linsley, Am. Jour. Sci. Arts, XLVII, 70, 1844; Stoeer, 

 Syn. Fish. N. A. 206, 1846; Jordan & Evermann, Bull. 47, U. S. Nat. 

 Mus. 427, 1896, pi. LXXII, fig. 191, 1900; Smith, Bull. U. S. F. C. XVII, 

 91, 1898. 



The American Shad. Goode, American Fishes, 400, fig, 1888. 



The shad was formerly referred to the genus Clupea, but 

 differs from the typical sea herring in the shape of the cheek 

 bone, which is soniewhat deeper than long. The adult is tooth- 

 less, but the young has well developed, though small, teeth in 

 the jaws, Avhich sometimes i)ersist till the fish has reached a 

 length of 15 inches. To this subgenus the name Alosa was 

 given by Cuvier. 



The shad has a deep body and a large mouth, with the jaws 

 about equal. The gill rakers are very long and slender, varying 

 with age f com 40 to 60 below the angle of the first arch. In 

 the female the dorsal originates a little in front of the middle 

 of the length; in the male somewhat farther in front. The dor- 

 sal of the male is rather higher than that of the female, while 

 the body is not so deep. In the female the greatest depth is 

 one third of the total without caudal and the length of the 

 head two ninths. In the male the length of the head is one 



