FISHES OF CHESAPEAKE BAY 
107 
This species is readily recognized by the inferior mouth, the produced posterior ray of the 
dorsal, and by the very long anal fin. The adults also are characterized by the numerous, slender, 
close-set gill rakers, by the greatly thickened walls of the stomach, from which it derives the name 
“gizzard shad,” and by the long convoluted intestine and numerous coeca. 
The size of the head and the depth of the body vary greatly among specimens, as shown in the 
description. The dark shoulder spot, always present in the young, appears to persist much longer 
in some specimens than in others, and occasionally it probably never is lost. These variations form 
the basis for the descriptions of several nominal species. Only one species, however, is now recog- 
nized, and variations occur even among individuals taken in the same school. 
The food consists almost exclusively of small organisms derived from mud, upon which it feeds. 
For the purpose of extracting these organisms from the mud, the fish is provided with a very effec- 
tive straining apparatus in its gillrakers, which have already been described. Linton examined 10 
stomachs taken from Chesapeake Bay specimens and found about 20 per cent of the “gizzard” 
content to consist of sand and mud and about 80 per cent of vegetable d6bris. One copepod was 
recognized and two Foraminifera. The intestine in this lot contained the same material, but with a 
rather larger proportion of sand. One Foraminifera, one Diffulgia, and one diatom were recognized. 
Spawning occurs during the early summer. The species is very prolific. The gizzard shad is 
more fresh-water in habit than are the true shad and herrings, as it is found in fresh water at all 
seasons; in some instances it has become landlocked, under which conditions it is thriving. It has, 
in fact, become so fresh-water in its habits that it frequents only fresh and brackish water and is 
rarely seen in strictly salt water. Nevertheless, it appears to make certain migrations, at least in 
Chesapeake Bay, as there is a fall “run” in September and October; but we have no evidence that 
there is a corresponding spring “run”, as one would expect and as reported for North Carolina by 
Smith (1907, p. 119). 
We know comparatively little of the rate of growth of the gizzard shad in Chesapeake Bay, 
but the following total catches, and therefore unselected fish, show that a length of about 4 to 5 inches 
is attained by October. These fish all were collected at Ocean View, Va., except one specimen, 
which was taken from the Patuxent River on November 8. 
Date 
Number 
of fish 
taken 
Range in size 
Average 
length 
Sept. 25, 1922 
5 
MillimeteTS 
101-125 
Inches 
4-5 
Inches 
4.3 
Oct. 20, 1922 
1 
109 
4. 3 
4.3 
Oct. 18, 1922 
14 
107-126 
4.2-5 
4. 5 
Oct. 25, 1922 
20 
109-160 
4. 3-6. 3 
5.3 
Nov. 8, 1921 
i 
101 
4 
4 
The gizzard shad is a bony fish of rather poor quality and it commands a low price in the mar- 
ket. In the Chesapeake region it sells fairly well to a class of trade that demands a cheap fish. 
The retail price in the Baltimore market in 1921 was about 5 cents a pound. This fish is not taken 
in large quantities in Chesapeake Bay and it does not command a separate fishery, but at times 
when “fishing is bad” catches are made that are very helpful to the fishermen. During 1920, 
among the various Chesapeake Bay fishes, it ranked fifteenth in quantity and twentieth in value, 
the catch being 72,852 pounds, worth $2,013. 
The importance of this fish among the commercial species, however, must not be judged from 
the quantity that is marketed and the price received. The food that the gizzard shad furnished 
for other fish, without itself eating foods utilized by most species, is no doubt of great economic 
importance. This point is well stated by Forbes and Richardson (1908, p. 46) in speaking of its 
importance among the fishes of Illinois: 
This immensely abundant species, although little esteemed as a food fish, is one of the most useful in our waters because of 
the almost exhaustless food supply which it offers to all the game fishes of our larger streams and lowland lakes. Living itself 
mainly upon food derived from the muddy bottoms of our very muddy rivers and lakes, it serves as a means of converting this mere 
waste of nature into the flesh of our most highly valued fishes. 
/L 
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