Author: Linnaeus , 1758

Alosa alosa Linnaeus , 1758

Diagnosis: body moderately deep, belly with prominent keel of scutes, upper jaw with a distinct median notch. Gillrakers long, thin and numerous, total 85-130 on first arch, longer than gill filaments. Colour: back deep blue, flanks silvery, with a dark spot posterior to gill-opening (sometimes absent). Size: to 70 cm, usually 30-50 cm.

Habitat: marine pelagic, but penetrating far up rivers to spawn; also freshwater lacustrine if A. alosa macedonica in Besikia Lake, Greece, is this species; shoaling, strongly migratory. Food: zooplankton, mainly copepods, decapods, euphausiids, also young fishes. Reproduction: anadromous, entering rivers in spring and spawning at the surface far upstream where the current is swift, the eggs sinking to the bottom; adults return to the sea immediately after.

Distribution: Atlantic coasts, from Cape Blanc to Scandinavia, also western part of Mediterranean.


Complementary iconography. Rollefsen et al., 1960, pl. 4 (col.) | Bini, 1971, 2, fig. p. 51 (col.).

Eggs, larvae and young stages. Hoek, 1888: 315, pl. VI (fig. 6-8) | Ehrenbaum, 1936: 27 | Hoestlandt, 1958: 739.
Otoliths (sagitta). Fryd, 1901: 34 | Jenkins, 1902: 115, pl. III (fig. 14) | Sanz Echeverría, 1922: 161, pl. IV (fig. 4) | Chaine, 1938: 166, pl. XIII.

Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Chordata
Subphylum Vertebrata
Superclass Gnathostomata
Class Osteichthyes
Order Clupeiformes
Family Clupeidae
Genus Alosa
Species Alosa alosa

Status in World Register of Marine Species

Accepted name: Alosa alosa (Linnaeus, 1758)

Scientific synonyms and common names

Alosa alosa Linnaeus , 1758

Synonyms:

Clupea Alosa Linnaeus, 1758, Syst. Nat., ed. X: 318 ('Habitat in Oceano Europaeo').
Alosa communis Yarrell, 1836, Hist. Brit. Fish., ed. I, 2: 136, fig. (Thames, Severn).
Alausa vulgaris Valenciennes, 1847, in Cuv. Val., Hist. Nat. Poiss., 20: 391, pl. 604, col. (many localities from Europa and North Africa). Lectotype: MNHN no. 3676, Paris market, presumably Seine; paralectotype: MNHN no. 5434, Seine, 3133, Algeria, 3338, Seine, by subs. design. of Whitehead, 1967.
Alosa Cuvierii Malm, 1877, Göteb. Bohusl. Fauna: 154 (Bordeaux).
Alosa vulgaris: Moreau, 1881, 3: 456.
Clupea alosa: Day, 1883, 2: 234, pl. CXL Andersson, 1942: 254 Soljan, 1948: 248.
Clupea alosa var. B. alosa: Smitt, 1895: 985, fig. 249b.
Alosa alosa: Regan, 1916, (8)18: 8 Fowler, 1936: 169, fig. 67 Poll, 1947: 138, fig. 91 Lozano Rey, 1947: 44, fig. 5A, 6 Svetovidov, 1952: 312 Wheeler, 1969: 127, fig. 49, map.

Common names:

alice shad [En]
alose vraie [Fr]
elft [Ne]
Maifisch [De]
maifisk [No]
majsild [Da]
sábago [Es]
sabalo cumun [Es]

Andersson, K. A., ed. 1942. Fiskar och fiske i Norden. 1, Fiskar och fiske i havet. Stockholm, xvi+540 p., 83 col. pl., 230 fig. 2, Fiskar och Fiske i Sjör och Floder: xvii-xxiv+541-1016, fig. 231-426, col. pl. 84128. (New edition in 1954, 2: 425-769, 190 fig., 42 col. pl.)

Cuvier, G.; Valenciennes, A. 1828-1849. Histoire naturelle des Poissons, Paris-Strasbourg, 22 vol., 11030 p., 621 pl. (numb. 1-650).1,1828: xvi+573 p., pl. I-VIII [author: Cuvier]; 2, 1828: xxi+490 p., pl. 9-40 [Cuv.:1-238, 249-262, 387-490; Val. : 238-249, 262-386]; 3 April 1829: xxiii+500p., pl. 41-71 [Cuvier]; 4,1829: xxvi+518 p., pl. 72-99 [Cuvier]; S, 1830: xxviii+499 p., pl. 100-140 [Cuvier]; 6, 1830: xxiv+559 p., pl. 141-169 [Val. :1-425, 493-559; Cuv.: 426-491]; 7, 1831: xxix+531 p., pl. 170-208 [Cuv. :1-440; Val.: 441-531]; 8, 1832: xix+509 p., pl. 209-245 [Cuv. :1-470; Val.: 471-509]; 9, 1833: xxix+ 512 p., pl. 246-279 [Cuv. :1-198, 330-359, 372-427; Val. :199-329, 359-371, 429-512];10,1835: xxiv+482 p., pl. 280-306 [Val.]; 11, 1836: xx+506 p., pl. 307343 [Val.]; 12, 1837: xxix+507 p., pl. 344-368 [Val.]; 13, 1839: xix+505 p., pl. 369-388 [Val.]; 14,1840: xxii+464 p., pl. 389-420 [Val.]; 15,1840: xxi+540 p., pl. 421-455 [Val.]; 16,1842: xx+472 p., pl. 456-487 [Val.]; 17,1844: xxiii+497 p., pl. 487-519 [Val.]; 18,1846: xix+505 p., pl. 520-553 [Val.]; 19,1847: xix+544 p., pl. 554590 [Val.]; 20,1847: xviii+472 p., pl. 591-606 [Val.]; 21,1848: xiv+536 p., pl. 607-633 [Val.]; 22,1849: xx+532 p., pl. 634650 [Val.].

Day, F. 1883. On the occurrence of Paralepis coregonoides in Cornwall. Zoologist, (3) 7: 381-382, 506.

Fowler, H. W. 1936. The Marine Fishes of West Africa, based on the collection of the American Museum Congo Expedition 1909-15. Bull. am. Mus. nat. Hist., 70 (1), Jan. 21, 1936: vii+606 p., fig. 1-275; (2), Nov. 18,1936: 607-1493, fig. 276-567.

Hoestlandt, H. 1958. Reproduction d'Alose Atlantique (Alosa alosa Linné) et transfert au Bassin Méditerranéen. Verh. int. Verein. theor. angew. Limnol., 12: 736-742, fig. 1, pl. IV-V.

Lozano y Rey, L. 1947. Peces Ganoideos y Fisostomos, Mems R. Acad. Cienc. exact. fis. nat. Madr., ser.: Cienc. Nat., 11: xv+839 p., 190 fig., 20 pl.

Malm, A. W. 1877. Göteborg och Bohusläns fauna. Ryggradsdjuren. Göteborg, 674 p., 9 pl.

Moreau, E. 1881-1891. Histoire naturelle des poissons de la France, Paris, I, 1881: I-VII+ 1-480, fig. 1-82; II, 1881:1-572, fig. 83-145; III, 1881:1-697, fig. 146-220; Suppl., 1891: 1-144, fig. 221-227.

Poll, M. 1947. Poissons marins in Faune de Belgique. Bruxelles, 452 p., 267 fig., 2 pl., 2 maps n. num. (inset).

Poll, M. 1947. Poissons marins in Faune de Belgique. Bruxelles, 452 p., 267 fig., 2 pl., 2 maps n. num. (inset).

Regan, C. T. 1916a. Larval and postlarval fishes. Brit. Antarct. (Terra Nova) Exp. 1910, Zool., 1 (4): 125-156, 5 fig., 10 pl.

Regan, C. T. 1916b. The British Fishes of the Subfamily Clupeinae and Related Species in other Seas. Ann. Mag. nat. Hist., (8)18 :1-19, 3 pl.

Smitt, F. A. 1893-1895. (ed.) A history of Scandinavian fishes, Stockholm and Paris, Atlas, I, 1893, pl. i-xxvii.

Soljan, T. 1948. Fauna i flora jadrana. 1. Ribe Inst. Oceanogr. Ribarst. Jugoslavia. Zagreb, Hrvatske, 437 p., 1350 fig.

Svetovidov, A. N. 1952. [Clupeidae, Fauna U.S.S.R., Fishes], 2 (1): 331 p., 54 fig., 53 pl. (Engl. transl., Jerusalem, 1963: 374 p.).

Wheeler, A. 1969. The Fishes of the British Isles and North-West Europe. Macmillan, London, Melbourne and Toronto: i-xvii+1-163, 5+177 fig., +392 fig. (princ. sp.)+92 n. num. fig., 16 pl., maps.

Yarrell, W. 1836-1839. A History of British fishes, illustrated by nearly 400 wood-cuts, in two volumes, London, 1836,1: xxxvii+408 p., 2: 472 p., fig. n. num.; 1839, supplement: vi+48 p., fig. (2nd ed., 1841, with suppl.; 3rd ed., 1859, additional species by J. Richardson, 1: xxxviii+675 p., 2: 670 p., 522 fig.).

Linnaeus, C. 1758. Systema Naturae, ed. X, vol. 1, 824 p. Nantes & Pisces: 230-338. (Reprint, 1956, London.)

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