Author: (Mitchill, 1814)
FBname: Blueback shad
Comments: Inhabits rivers, estuaries, coastal waters, lakes and reservoirs (Ref. 117456).  Adults are found in saltwater except during the spawning season and occur up to at least 200 km offshore (Ref. 117456).  Forms schools and possibly wintering near the bottom and out from the coast, approaching the shore in the late spring.  Feeds on small fishes, copepods and small shrimps.  Spawns in brackish- or freshwaters of rivers, arriving in coastal waters a month or so later than <i>A. pseudoharengus</i> (in April at Chesapeake Bay, apparently when the water is above 7.0° C and later further north).  Eggs are essentially pelagic, demersal in still water (Ref. 4639).  Larvae are found in fresh and brackish rivers (Ref. 4639).  Juveniles leave fresh and brackish nursery grounds at about 5 cm, migrating downstream (Ref. 4639).  In freshwater habitat, this species usually occurs in current over rocky bottom (Ref. 86798). Marketed mostly fresh and salted (Ref. 188).  Parasites found are acanthocephalan and nematodes (Ref. 37032).