{{Short description|Family of fishes}} {{Redirect|Shad}} {{Automatic Taxobox | name = Alosidae | fossil_range = {{fossil range|50|0|earliest=74|Early Eocene to present}} Possible Late Cretaceous record | image = Alosa fallax.jpg | image_caption = Twaite shad, ''Alosa fallax'' | taxon = Alosidae | authority = Svetovidov, 1952<ref name = VDLEF>{{cite journal | author1 = Richard van der Laan | author2 = William N. Eschmeyer | author3 = Ronald Fricke | name-list-style = amp |year=2014 | title = Family-group names of recent fishes | url = https://biotaxa.org/Zootaxa/article/view/zootaxa.3882.1.1/10480 | journal = Zootaxa | volume = 3882 | issue = 2 | pages = 1–230| doi = 10.11646/zootaxa.3882.1.1 | pmid = 25543675 | doi-access = free }}</ref> | subdivision_ranks = Genera | subdivision = see text }} The '''Alosidae''', or the '''shads''',<ref>[https://fisheries.org/shop/x54035xm Biodiversity, Status, and Conservation of the World’s Shads] American Fisheries Society Symposium Volume (2003)</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Whitehead |first=Peter J.P. |title=FAO species catalogue. Vol. 7. Clupeoid fishes of the world. An annotated and illustrated catalogue of the herrings, sardines, pilchards, sprats, anchovies and wolfherrings. Part 1 – Chirocentridae, Clupeidae and Pristigasteridae |chapter=Subfamily Alosinae |year=1985 |publisher=FAO |location=Rome |series=FAO Fisheries Synopsis |volume=125/7/1 |isbn=978-92-5-102340-2|pages=190–209 |url=https://openknowledge.fao.org/handle/20.500.14283/ac482e }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.cbr.washington.edu/shadfoundation/ |title=The Shad Foundation homepage |access-date=2015-02-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081215173839/http://www.cbr.washington.edu/shadfoundation/ |archive-date=2008-12-15 |url-status=dead }}</ref> are a family of clupeiform fishes. The family currently comprises four genera worldwide, and about 32 species.<ref>{{FishBase family |family=Alosidae |month=February |year=2024}}</ref>
The shads are pelagic (open water) schooling fish, of which many are anadromous or even landlocked. Several species are of commercial importance, e.g. in the genus ''Alosa'' (river herrings), ''Brevoortia'' (menhadens), and ''Sardina''. The Alosidae were previously included in the herring family Clupeidae.
==Genera== Alosidae contains the following 4 genera:<ref name = CofF>{{Cof family|family=Alosidae|access-date=20 November 2024}}</ref> *''Alosa'' <small>H. F. Linck, 1790</small> (Shads) *''Brevoortia'' <small>Gill, 1861</small> (Menhadens) *''Sardina'' <small>Antipa, 1904</small> (European pilchard) *''Sardinops'' <small>C. L. Hubbs, 1929</small> (Blue pilchard) The following fossil Alosidae are also known:<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last1=Marramà |first1=Giuseppe |last2=Carnevale |first2=Giorgio |date=2018-03-01 |title=Eoalosa janvieri gen. et sp. nov., a new clupeid fish (Teleostei, Clupeiformes) from the Eocene of Monte Bolca, Italy |journal=PalZ |language=en |volume=92 |issue=1 |pages=107–120 |doi=10.1007/s12542-017-0378-0 |issn=1867-6812 |pmc=5830460 |pmid=29515269|bibcode=2018PalZ...92..107M }}</ref>
* †''Eoalosa'' <small>Marramà & Carnevale, 2017</small> (early Eocene of Italy)<ref name=":0" /> * †''Moldavichthys'' <small>Baykina & Schwarzhans, 2017</small> (mid-late Miocene of Moldova)<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last1=Baykina |first1=E. M. |last2=Schwarzhans |first2=W. W. |date=2017-03-01 |title=Review of "Clupea humilis" from the Sarmatian of Moldova and description of Moldavichthys switshenskae gen. et sp. nov. |url=https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13358-016-0121-6 |journal=Swiss Journal of Palaeontology |language=en |volume=136 |issue=1 |pages=141–149 |doi=10.1007/s13358-016-0121-6 |bibcode=2017SwJP..136..141B |issn=1664-2384|url-access=subscription }}</ref> * ?†''Pugliaclupea'' <small>Taverne, 2004</small> (Late Cretaceous of Italy) * †''Sanalosa'' <small>Bienkowska-Wasiluk, Granica & Kovalchuk, 2024</small> (Oligocene of Poland)<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Bienkowska-Wasiluk |first1=Malgorzata |last2=Kovalchuk |first2=Oleksandr |last3=Granica |first3=Mateusz |date=2024 |title=A new extinct shad from Poland in the light of clupeiform diversity and distribution within the Paratethys during the Oligocene |url=https://journals.pan.pl/dlibra/publication/151753/edition/132683/content |journal=Acta Geologica Polonica |volume=74 |issue=3 |page=E23 |doi=10.24425/agp.2024.151753 |issn=0001-5709|doi-access=free }}</ref>
The oldest member of the group is ''Pugliaclupea'' from the Campanian of Italy, but its placement in the Alosidae appears to be on weak grounds. Otherwise, all other members of the family are only known from the Eocene onwards.<ref name=":0" /> There appears to have been a significant center of endemism for the alosids and other clupeoids in the Paratethys.<ref name=":1" /> The freshwater †''Chasmoclupea'' from the Oligocene of Egypt may also be related to the Alosidae.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Murray |first1=Alison M. |last2=Simons |first2=Elwyn L. |last3=Attia |first3=Yousry S. |date=2005-06-27 |title=A new clupeid fish (Clupeomorpha) from the oligocene of Fayum, Egypt, with notes on some other fossil clupeomorphs |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1671/0272-4634(2005)025%5B0300:ANCFCF%5D2.0.CO;2 |journal=Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology |volume=25 |issue=2 |pages=300–308 |doi=10.1671/0272-4634(2005)025[0300:ANCFCF]2.0.CO;2 |issn=0272-4634|url-access=subscription }}</ref> ==Ultrasound hearing== While the hearing of most fishes is limited in frequency to less than 1 kHz,<ref> Ladich, F., & Fay, R. R. (2013). Auditory evoked potential audiometry in fish. Reviews in Fish Biology and Fisheries, 23(3), 317-364.</ref> some shads and menhadens demonstrate an unusual ability to detect very high frequency sound (ultrasound) above 50 kHz <ref> Popper, A. N., Plachta, D. T., Mann, D. A., & Higgs, D. (2004). Response of clupeid fish to ultrasound: a review. ICES Journal of Marine Science, 61(7), 1057-1061.</ref>
==See also== *The Shad Foundation *Shad Planking, a Virginia political gathering featuring the consumption of American shad
==References== {{Reflist}}
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Category:Alosidae Category:Clupeiformes Category:Otocephala families Category:Extant Ypresian first appearances