The gizzard shad's dorsal fin starts behind the insertion of the pelvic fins, and the last ray is greatly lengthened in adults, but not in the young.
They have a long anal fin, with 25 to 36 long, soft rays on the fin.
The mouth of the gizzard shad has a short, wide, upper jaw with a deep notch along the ventral margin, and a weak, relatively smaller, lower jaw.
The mouth itself is subterminal to inferior (on the lower portion of the head), and the adults possess no teeth.
The gizzard shad also has 90 to 275 gill rakers along the lower limbs.
Their ventral (pelvic) fins are in the thoracic position, or in the chest region of the fish.
The gizzard shad can range from very small size when fry to a maximum recorded length of 477 mm (18.8 in) and maximum weight of 1.56 kg (3.4 lb).
The average length is typically larger in northern waters, and ranges from 284 mm (11.2 in) at age three years to 399 mm (15.7 in) at age 10.
They have a highly reduced lateral line system, a feature shared by other members of the Clupeidae.
To compensate for this reduction in their mechanical sensory system, they have developed other methods of sensing movement.
The gizzard shad's dorsal fin starts behind the insertion of the pelvic fins, and the last ray is greatly lengthened in adults, but not in the young. They have a long anal fin, with 25 to 36 long, soft rays on the fin. The mouth of the gizzard shad has a short, wide, upper jaw with a deep notch along the ventral margin, and a weak, relatively smaller, lower jaw. The mouth itself is subterminal to inferior (on the lower portion of the head), and the adults possess no teeth. The gizzard shad also has 90 to 275 gill rakers along the lower limbs. Their ventral (pelvic) fins are in the thoracic position, or in the chest region of the fish. The gizzard shad can range from very small size when fry to a maximum recorded length of 477 mm (18.8 in) and maximum weight of 1.56 kg (3.4 lb). The average length is typically larger in northern waters, and ranges from 284 mm (11.2 in) at age three years to 399 mm (15.7 in) at age 10. They have a highly reduced lateral line system, a feature shared by other members of the Clupeidae. To compensate for this reduction in their mechanical sensory system, they have developed other methods of sensing movement.
American gizzard shad