gizzard shad

Dorosoma cepedianum

Silvery green fades to plain silver

Tropical
Northern Hemisphere
Regional distribution
Atlantic Ocean
North America
Fusiform
Compressed cross-section
Large
Tropical fish

The American gizzard shad (Dorosoma cepedianum), also known as the mud shad, is a member of the herring family of fish and is native to large swaths of fresh and brackish waters in the United States of America, as well as portions of Canada, and Mexico. The adult has a deep body, with a silvery-green coloration above fading to plain silver below. The gizzard shad commonly resides in freshwater lakes, reservoirs, rivers, and streams but can also reside in brackish waters, as it does on the Atlantic coast of the United States.

Class: Teleosts
Order: Herrings
Family: Dorosomatidae
Genus: Dorosoma
Maximum length: 57 cm
Body shape: fusiform
Distribution: Northwest Atlantic: North America and Gulf of Mexico drainage (southeast South Dakota and central Minnesota, Great Lakes drainage, i.e. in Lake Erie, southern parts of Lakes Huron and Michigan, Lake Ontario basin; not Lake Superior; southernmost New York southward to the Mississippi system and to Gulf southward to Río Pánuco, Mexico.
Conservation status: LCLeast Concern

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