Alosidae

"Shad" redirects here. For other uses, see Shad (disambiguation).

The Alosidae, or the shads,^[2][3][4] are a family of clupeiform fishes. The family currently comprises four genera worldwide, and about 32 species.^[5]

Alosidae Temporal range: Early Eocene to present PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N Possible Late Cretaceous record
Twaite shad, Alosa fallax
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Order:	Clupeiformes
Suborder:	Clupeoidei
Family:	Alosidae Svetovidov, 1952[1]
Genera
see text

The shads are pelagic (open water) schooling fish, of which many are anadromous or even landlocked. Several species are of commercial importance, e.g. in the genus Alosa (river herrings), Brevoortia (menhadens), and Sardina. The Alosidae were previously included in the herring family Clupeidae.

Genera

Alosidae contains the following 4 genera:^[6]

• Alosa H. F. Linck, 1790 (Shads)
• Brevoortia Gill, 1861 (Menhadens)
• Sardina Antipa, 1904 (European pilchard)
• Sardinops C. L. Hubbs, 1929 (Blue pilchard)

The following fossil Alosidae are also known:^[7]

• †Eoalosa Marramà & Carnevale, 2017 (early Eocene of Italy)^[7]
• †Moldavichthys Baykina & Schwarzhans, 2017 (mid-late Miocene of Moldova)^[8]
•  ?†Pugliaclupea Taverne, 2004 (Late Cretaceous of Italy)
• †Sanalosa Bienkowska-Wasiluk, Granica & Kovalchuk, 2024 (Oligocene of Poland)^[9]

The oldest member of the group is Pugliaclupea from the Campanian of Italy, but its placement in the Alosidae appears to be on weak grounds. Otherwise, all other members of the family are only known from the Eocene onwards.^[7] There appears to have been a significant center of endemism for the alosids and other clupeoids in the Paratethys.^[8] The freshwater †Chasmoclupea from the Oligocene of Egypt may also be related to the Alosidae.^[10]

See also

• The Shad Foundation
• Shad Planking, a Virginia political gathering featuring the consumption of American shad