Clupea

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Clupea
Temporal range: 16–0  Ma
O
S
D
C
P
T
J
K
Pg
N
Middle Miocene to Present [1]
Clupea harengus.png
Atlantic herring (Clupea harengus)
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Clupeiformes
Family: Clupeidae
Genus: Clupea
Linnaeus, 1758
Type species
Clupea harengus
Linnaeus, 1758
Species

see text

Synonyms

Clupea is genus of planktivorous bony fish belonging to the family Clupeidae, commonly known as herrings. They are found in the shallow, temperate waters of the North Pacific and the North Atlantic oceans, including the Baltic Sea. Two main species of Clupea are currently recognized: the Atlantic herring (Clupea harengus) and the Pacific herring (Clupea pallasii), which have each been divided into subspecies. Herrings are forage fish moving in vast schools, coming in spring to the shores of Europe and America, where they form important commercial fisheries.

Contents

Morphology

The species of Clupea belong to the larger family Clupeidae (herrings, shads, sardines, menhadens), which comprises some 200 species that share similar features. They are silvery-colored fish that have a single dorsal fin, which is soft, without spines. They have no lateral line and have a protruding lower jaw. Their size varies between subspecies: the Baltic herring (Clupea harengus membras) is small, 14 to 18 centimeters; the proper Atlantic herring (C. h. harengus) can grow to about 45.72 cm (18.00 in) and weigh up 680 g (1.50 lb); and Pacific herring grow to about 38 cm (15 in).

Species

Clupea species
Common nameScientific nameMaximum
length
Common
length
Maximum
weight
Maximum
age
Trophic
level
Fish
Base
FAO ITIS IUCN status
Atlantic herring Clupea harengus Linnaeus, 1758 45.0 cm30.0 cm1.1 kg22 years3.23 [2] [3] [4] LC IUCN 3 1.svg Least concern [5]
   - Atlantic herring    - C. h. harengus Linnaeus, 1758 [6]
   - Baltic herring    - C. h. membras Valenciennes, 1847 [7]
Pacific herring Clupea pallasiiValenciennes, 184746.0 cm25.0 cm19 years3.15 [8] [9] [10] Not assessed
   - Pacific herring    - C. p. pallasiiValenciennes, 184746.0 cm25.0 cm [8] -
   - White Sea herring    - C. p. marisalbiL. S. Berg, 192334.0 cm [11] - [12]
   - Chosa herring    - C. p. suworowiRabinerson, 192731.5 cm [13] -

Fossil species

Many other fossil species have been previously placed into this genus, due to it being a former wastebasket taxon for herring-like fossil fish. [1] [16] As the only known reliable fossils of this genus are from the Miocene of the Pacific Ocean, it has been suggested that Clupea originated in the Pacific Ocean in the Miocene, with the Pacific herring descending from this ancestral source population. Some Clupea then dispersed to the Atlantic Ocean via the Arctic Ocean when the Bering Strait opened for the first time about 5 million years ago, during the Early Pliocene, with these becoming the ancestors of the Atlantic herring. [1]

Ecology

See Atlantic herring for videos of juvenile herring feeding by catching copepods.

Video loop of a school of Atlantic herring migrating to their spawning grounds in the Baltic Sea Heringsschwarm.gif
Video loop of a school of Atlantic herring migrating to their spawning grounds in the Baltic Sea

Predators of herring include humans, seabirds, dolphins, porpoises, striped bass, seals, sea lions, whales, sharks, dog fish, tuna, cod, salmon, and halibut. Other large fish also feed on adult herring.[ citation needed ]

Young herring feed on phytoplankton and as they mature they start to consume larger organisms. Adult herring feed on zooplankton, tiny animals that are found in oceanic surface waters, and small fish and fish larvae. Copepods and other tiny crustaceans are the most common zooplankton eaten by herring. During daylight herring stay in the safety of deep water, feeding at the surface only at night when there is less chance of being seen by predators. They swim along with their mouths open, filtering the plankton from the water as it passes through their gills.

Fisheries

Commercial herring catch Herring catch-Sep200.jpg
Commercial herring catch

Adult herring are harvested for their meat and eggs, and they are often used as baitfish. The trade in herring is an important sector of many national economies. In Europe the fish has been called the "silver of the sea", and its trade has been so significant to many countries that it has been regarded as the most commercially important fishery in history. [17] Environmental Defense have suggested that the Atlantic herring (Clupea harengus) fishery is one of the more environmentally responsible fisheries. [18]

Medieval herring fishing in Scania, 1555 Olausmagnus scaniamarket.jpg
Medieval herring fishing in Scania, 1555

Sources

Related Research Articles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clupeidae</span> Family of fishes

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Atlantic herring</span> Species of fish

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The Araucanian herring is a species of fish in the family Clupeidae. It is an epipelagic fish, silvery below and dark blue above, which schools in coastal waters off the west coast of South America. It ranges along the Chilean coast from Valparaiso south to Talcahuano. It schools at depths from 0 to 70 meters in nearshore areas.

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Yabumoto, Yoshitaka; Nazarkin, Mikhail V. (2018). "A New Miocene Herring, Clupea macrocephala , from Sakaki Town, Hanishina County, Nagano, Japan". Paleontological Research. 22 (4): 352–363. doi:10.2517/2018PR002. ISSN   1342-8144.
  2. Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.). "Clupea harengus". FishBase . April 2012 version.
  3. Clupea harengus (Linnaeus, 1758) FAO, Species Fact Sheet. Retrieved April 2012.
  4. "Clupea harengus". Integrated Taxonomic Information System.
  5. Herdson, D.; Priede, I.G. (2010). "Clupea harengus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2010: e.T155123A4717767. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2010-4.RLTS.T155123A4717767.en . Retrieved 13 November 2021.
  6. "Clupea harengus harengus". Integrated Taxonomic Information System.
  7. "Clupea harengus membras". Integrated Taxonomic Information System.
  8. 1 2 Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.). "Clupea pallasii pallasii". FishBase . April 2012 version.
  9. Clupea pallasii (Valenciennes, 1847) FAO, Species Fact Sheet. Retrieved 2 March 2012.
  10. "Clupea pallasii". Integrated Taxonomic Information System.
  11. Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.). "Clupea pallasii marisalbi". FishBase . April 2012 version.
  12. "Clupea pallasii marisalbi". Integrated Taxonomic Information System.
  13. Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.). "Clupea pallasii suworowi". FishBase . April 2012 version.: "Status needs confirmation."
  14. Yabumoto, Yoshitaka; Nazarkin, Mihkail V. (2020-07-01). "Clupea hanishinaensis Nomen Novum, a Replacement Name for the Miocene Clupeid Fish Clupea macrocephala Yabumoto and Nazarkin, 2018 from Nagano, Japan". Paleontological Research. 24 (3): 238. doi:10.2517/2019PR011. ISSN   1342-8144.
  15. California Academy of Sciences (1890). Occasional papers of the California Academy of Sciences. California Academy of Sciences. San Francisco : California Academy of Sciences.
  16. "PBDB Taxon". paleobiodb.org. Retrieved 2024-12-04.
  17. Herring Archived 2010-08-14 at the Wayback Machine , from Census of Marine Life Archived 2010-08-04 at the Wayback Machine , 2010.
  18. Eco-Best Fish - Safe for the environment, from Environmental Defense Fund, 2010.