Alosa pseudoharengus

A. pseudoharengus has an overall silvery colour with a greyish-green back. A black spot at the eye level is directly behind the head. Adults have longitudinal lines that run along the scale lines above the midline of the body. The large scales are deciduous and the lateral line is not well-developed (Scott and Crossman, 1973). Scales on the midline of the belly form scutes, creating a serrated surface (Trautman, 1957). The body is strongly laterally compressed and relatively deep. Eyes are large. The front of the lower jaw is thick and extends past the upper jaw when the mouth is closed. The maxillary extends to below the middle of the eye. A few small teeth are present on the premaxillary and mandible (Scott and Crossman, 1973). There are more than 30 gill rakers on the lower angle of the first gill arch (Trautman, 1957). The single dorsal fin usually has 13-14 rays but may have 12-16. The caudal fin is forked. The anal fin is short and wide with 15-19 rays (usually 17-18). The pelvic fins are rather small and contain 10 rays. The pectoral fins are low on the sides and they usually have 16 rays but may have as few as 14 (Scott and Crossman, 1973). A. pseudoharengus in landlocked populations become stunted;their maximum total length rarely exceeds 200 mm and average total length ranges from 125 to 175 mm (OÕ Gorman et al., 1987;Madenjian et al., 2003). Average length usually increases with the size of the waterbody. In contrast, anadromous A. pseudoharengus can grow to 360 to 380 mm (Collette and Klein-MacPhee, 2002).