Common name: American Shad
Family: Cliupeidae, Herrings
Species: Alosa Sapidissima
Description:The American Shad are black, green or sometimes greenish-blue with silvery sides. The color turns darker when the fish enters fresh water to spawn.
Habitat: The American Shad spend Most of their lives in the ocean, entering coastal rivers to spawn. The American Shad is found in fresh water only during their spawning. After spawning , it runs back to the ocean. The American Shad cannot tolerate cold water that is below 41 degrees. In coastal rivers they are primarily found in deep runs and pools.
Range/migration: Introduced into Sacramento River, California in 1871 by Seth Green, the American Shad spread along the Pacific Coast from Kamchatka to Todos Santos Bay, Mexico. Landlocked in Millrton Lake, California.
Food: American Shad are primarily plankton feeders. Depending upon the geographical region, their diet will vary. Copepods amphipods, shrimp, zooplankton, and other small fish are common food sources.
Reproduction: The fish select sandy or pebbly shallows for spawning grounds, and deposit their eggs mostly between sundown and midnight. Females produce about 30,000 eggs on the average, though as many as 156,000 have been estimated in very large fish. The eggs are transparent, pale pink or amber, and semi-buoyant, not sticky like those of other fish from its family. They roll the eggs at 52F. (12C.), in 6 to 8 days at 63F (17C). The young Shad remain in the rivers until fall, when they move down to salt water; they are now 1.5 to 4.5 inches long, resembling their parents in appearance.
Enemies: In freshwater the shad itself falls prey to white sturgeon, juvenile salmonids, harbor seals, and other predators, while in the ocean phase of life a shad is preyed upon by sharks, tuna, sea lions, and others.
More information: lhttp://www.psmfc.org/habitat/edu_shad_fact.html
http://www.fisheries.vims.edu/femap/fish%20pages/American%20Shad.htm
http://www.chesapeakebay.net/info/american_shad.cfm