Species: Dorosoma cepedianum, American Gizzard Shad, Gizzard Shad

Dorosoma cepedianum (Lesueur, 1818)

Gizzard Shad, American Gizzard Shad

Body deep, compressed; snout bulbous, bulging out past mouth; mouth small, slightly overhung by snout, with notch between front of upper jaws; sides of lower jaw curved in below when viewed from front; last dorsal fin ray long, filamentous; anal fin longer than head, 25-36 rays, origin just behind base of dorsal fin; pelvic fins on the abdomen below the dorsal fin, i,7; a forked tail fin; scales small, somewhat irregular, 52-70 (usually 58-65) in lateral series; ventral profile a strongly convex keel of scutes.

Dark blue above, grading to a white belly; 6-8 dark stripes along upper sides; a black spot a little behind upper edge of operculum.

Size: 50 cm.

Habitat: lives in rivers and freshwater lakes; but also found in brackish water.

Depth: 0-33 m.

New York to the Gulf of Mexico.