84 
BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF FISHERIES 
Fourteen specimens of this species, ranging from 155 to 328 millimeters (6Vs to 13 inches) in 
length, form the basis for the above description. This species is recognized by the strongly pro- 
jecting lower jaw, which distinctly enters into the dorsal profile, and by the small number of gill 
rakers on the lower limb of the first arch. It agrees with Alosa sapidissima in the general shape 
of the mandible, and it differs from the other species of Pomolobus in the absence of a prominent 
angle near the median point of its length. 
Doctor Linton examined seven stomachs from specimens taken on five different dates and at 
three localities in Chesapeake Bay. Four stomachs were virtually empty, but the small fragments 
found in washings indicated a fish diet. The other three stomachs contained the remains of fish 
exclusively. Two stomachs examined by us, taken from fish caught in April, were entirely empty. 
Bean (1903, p. 198) states that specimens taken near New York City and examined by him had 
fed on sand launces, each stomach containing from 15 to 20 of these animals, ranging from 3)dj to 5 
inches in length. Many stomachs of fish caught at Woods Hole, Mass., and examined by Vinal N. 
Edwards, contained, besides various species of small fish, squids, fish eggs, small crabs, and various 
pelagic crustaceans. 
The habits of the hickory shad are even less perfectly understood than are those of the branch 
herring and the glut herring. Jordan and Evermann (1896-1900, p. 425) and Fowler (1906, p. 95), state 
that this fish does not ascend fresh-water streams to spawn. McDonald (1884, p. 609) says that 
no observations have been made on the breeding habits but that it is almost certain that the species 
spawns in the spring, and he thinks that it is “more than probable” that it spawns in fresh water 
under the same conditions as the shad but at a little earlier period. Smith (1907, p. 121) says: 
“ The species is common in the coast waters and rivers of North Carolina, coming in from the ocean 
in the late winter or early spring and ascending streams to spawn, going to the headwaters in com- 
pany with the branch herring.” Not a single fish less than 155 millimeters (6 Vs inches) in length 
occurs in the present Chesapeake collection, and young previously reported from Chesapeake 
waters (so far as we have been able to secure the specimens for examination) were wrongly identified. 
Extensive collections of Clupeidas were made in the Potomac River, in the fresh waters in the vicinity 
of Havre de Grace and at many points in the bay. The collections in the Potomac were made 
chiefly during the summer and fall, those at Havre de Grace in the spring, late summer, and fall, 
and those in the bay were made at all seasons of the year in both shallow and deep water. The 
fact that not a single young hickory shad (of less than 155 millimeters in length) was taken through- 
out these investigations shows rather conclusively that the hickory shad does not ascend the fresh 
waters of the Chesapeake region to spawn. Five adults examined, taken during April and May 
(four females and one male), all had the roe somewhat developed but not ripe. The information 
gathered during the investigation leads to the belief that the hickory shad leaves Chesapeake Bay 
to spawn. 
A definite spring run and a somewhat less definite fall run of hickory shad takes place in Chesa- 
peake Bay. During the summer only stragglers are taken. Hickory shad are taken with the 
opening of pound-net fishing in the lower bay early in March. Like the shad and the alewives, 
the first fish appear sometime later in the upper reaches of the bay. In the lower Potomac the 
bulk of the catch is taken late in March and early in April, agreeing in this respect with the 
Lynnhaven Roads region; but in the vicinity of Havre de Grace the run does not occur until late 
in April and early in May. Most of these fish range in length from 14 to 18 inches. 
This fish is taken during summer in all parts of the bay, at least as far north as Baltimore. 
The individuals are smaller fish than those of the spring and fall runs, measuring from 8 to 12 
inches in length. The number of fish taken in a set of pound nets during the summer (if, indeed, 
any at all are caught) usually ranges from one to six per day. 
In the fall a definite but somewhat smaller run than that in the spring occurs. The fall fish 
are taken mostly in the lower parts of the bay, from Solomons, Md., southward. In a set of two 
pound nets in Lynnhaven Roads, fishing from November 1 to 16, 1921, from none at all to 100 
pounds a day were caught; while in two nets fishing from November 16 to December 5 at Ocean 
View daily catches of 100 to 400 pounds were taken, the catch for the last day being 150 pounds. 
Virtually all fishing ceases by December 1, consequently we do not know at what date this fall run 
of fish ends, but in view of the catch made on December 5 it appears probable that a few fish, at 
least, remain after the nets are lifted. The fall fish are of about the same size as those of the spring 
