Common Name
Atlantic Herring
Year Described
Linnaeus, 1758
Identification
Dorsal Fin: 16-20
Anal Fin: 16-20
Pectoral Fin: 17-19
Pelvic Fin: 8 (branched)
Vertebrae: 55-57
Scales: 56-62
Ventral Scutes: 39-46
Gill Rakers: 37-52
Body quite slender and fusiforme. Gill opening with rounded edge. Eye about snout length. Upper jaw without median notch and reaching back to mid-orbit. Dorsal and ventral profiles evenly rounded. Dorsal fin origin at about midbody. Pelvic fin under dorsal fin. Anal fin small and placed rearward. Pectoral fin low on body. Tail forked. Body scaled. Ventral scutes not keeled.
Color
Body bright silvery with a dark blue or green back. Fresh specimens with an iridescent green, blue, and yellow sheen. Dorsal and caudal fins dusky to dark blue. Anal and pelvic fins pale. Pectoral fin dark basally.
Size
Maximum size to 45cm SL but much more common to 30cm SL.
Habitat
Pelagic in the open ocean, up to 200m deep. Forms huge schools.
Range
Greenland to Cape Hatteras, but most common north of Cape Cod.
References
Hildebrand, S.F. 1964. Engraulidae and Clupeidae (pp. 152-454). In: Fishes of the Western North Atlantic. Mem. Sears Fnd. Mar. Res. 1 (Vol. 3): 1-630.
Munroe, T.A. & M.S. Nizinski. 2002. Clupeidaeidae (pp 804-830). In: Carpenter. 2002. The living marine resources of the Western Central Atlantic. Vol. 2: Bony fishes part 1 (Acipenseridae-Grammatidae). FAO Species Identification Guides for Fisheries Purposes. American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists Special Publication No. 5.