The Caspian tern is a species of tern, with a subcosmopolitan but scattered distribution. Despite its extensive range, it is monotypic of its genus, and has no accepted subspecies. The genus name is from Ancient Greek hudros, "water", and Latin progne, "swallow". The specific caspia is from Latin and, like the English name, refers to the Caspian Sea.
Alosa is a genus of fish, the river herrings, in the family Alosidae. Along with other genera in the subfamily Alosinae, they are generally known as shads. They are distinct from other herrings by having a deeper body and spawning in rivers. Several species can be found on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. Also, several taxa occur in the brackish-water Caspian Sea and the Black Sea basin. Many are found in fresh water during spawning and some are only found in landlocked fresh water.
The Black Sea sprat or Pontic sprat, Clupeonella cultriventris, is a small fish of the herring family, Clupeidae. It is found in the Black Sea and Sea of Azov and rivers of its basins: Danube, Dnister, Dnipro (Ukraine), Southern Bug, Don, Kuban. It has white-grey flesh and silver-grey scales. A typical size is 10 cm. The life span is up to 5 years. The peak of its spawning is in April and it can be found in enormous shoals in sea-shores, filled all-round coastal shallows, moving quickly back into the sea at a depth of 6–30 metres. Used for food; it has around 12% fat in flesh.
Rutilus frisii, called the vyrezub, Black Sea roach, or kutum, is a species of fish in the family Cyprinidae, native to the basins of the Black Sea, Sea of Azov, and Sea of Marmara from the rivers of Bulgaria to western Transcaucasia and in Lake Iznik (Turkey).
The allis shad is a widespread Northeast Atlantic species of fish in the Alosidae family. It is an anadromous fish which migrates into fresh water to spawn. It is found in the eastern Atlantic Ocean, the western Baltic Sea and the western Mediterranean Sea. In appearance it resembles an Atlantic herring but has a distinctive dark spot behind the gill cover and sometimes a row of up to six spots behind this. It sometimes hybridises with the twait shad. This fish becomes mature when three or more years old and migrates to estuaries, later swimming up rivers to spawn. Populations of this fish have declined due to overfishing, pollution and habitat destruction. Conservation of this species is covered by Appendix III of the Bern Convention and Appendix II and V of the European Community Habitats Directive.
Alosa maeotica, known as the Black Sea shad or Azov shad, is a species of Alosid fish endemic to the Sea of Azov and the western part of the Black Sea basin. It is found in Bulgaria, Georgia, Moldova, Romania, Russia, Turkey, and Ukraine.
Alosa vistonica the Thracian shad, is a species of shad, a freshwater fish in the family Alosidae. It is endemic to a single shallow lake, Lake Vistonida in Greece. It is classified as critically endangered (CR) and is threatened by sewage, industrial effluents, destruction of spawning sites by agricultural development and increased salinity following the opening of a canal into the sea. It has been suspected to be extinct already.
The big-scale sand smelt is a species of fish in the family Atherinidae. It is a euryhaline amphidromous fish, up to 20 cm in length.
Alosa braschnikowi, the Caspian marine shad or Brazhnikov's shad, is one of the alosid fish species endemic to the Caspian Sea.
The Pontic shad, also referred to as the Black Sea shad or Kerch shad, is a species of clupeid fish in the genus Alosa, native to the Black Sea and Sea of Azov basins.
Alosa kessleri, also referred to as the Caspian anadromous shad, the blackback, or the black-spined herring, is a species of alosid fish. It is one of the several species of shad endemic to the Caspian Sea basin.
The Killarney shad, also called the goureen, is a freshwater fish in the family Alosidae, endemic to a single lake in Ireland, Lough Leane in County Kerry. Research has shown that it is a landlocked subspecies of the anadromous, twait shad, arriving in the lake after the Last Glacial Maximum about 10,000 years ago. This fish is at risk from eutrophication and the introduction of alien species of fish to the lake and the International Union for Conservation of Nature has rated it as "critically endangered".
Alosa saposchnikowii, or the saposhnikovi shad, is a species of fish in the clupeid genus Alosa. It is one of the endemic species of this genus in the Caspian Sea area.
Alosa sphaerocephala, or the Agrakhan shad, is a species of alosid (herring-like) fish, one of the endemic shad species in the Caspian Sea.
Alosa tanaica, known as the Azov shad or Black Sea shad, is a species of alosid fish endemic to the Ponto-Caspian basin. It is an anadromous species, spawning in the lower reaches of rivers. It is widespread in the eastern Black Sea, the Kerch Strait and the Sea of Azov.
Alosa volgensis, the Volga shad, is a alosid fish, one of the species of shad endemic to the Caspian Sea region.
Caspian tyulka, Clupeonella caspia, is a species of fish in the family Clupeidae. It is found in the Caspian Sea, also in the lower reaches of the rivers Volga, Ural, and possibly Terek. This is a brackishwater pelagic-neritic fish, up to 12 cm maximum length.
Nikolai Mikhailovich Knipovich was a Russian and Soviet ichthyologist, marine zoologist and oceanographer, notable as the founder of fisheries research in the Russian North.
The Alosidae, or the shads, are a family of clupeiform fishes. The family currently comprises four genera worldwide, and about 32 species.
Alosa curensis, the Kura shad, is one of the species of alosid fish endemic to the Caspian Sea basin. It is found in the southwestern part of the brackish sea-lake, near the mouth of the Kura River, Azerbaijan. But generally this is a poorly known species.
