American gizzard shad (Dorosoma cepedianum) is a saltwater, freshwater, brackish species recorded in the United States. It is found at depths of 0–33 m.
Scientific name: Dorosoma cepedianum · Water: Saltwater, Freshwater, Brackish
Size: up to 57 cm
The American gizzard shad is a pelagic neritic dorosomatid whose adults occur mainly in fresh water in large rivers, reservoirs, lakes, swamps and temporary floodwater pools, and also in the brackish or saline water of estuaries and bays, preferring quieter open waters; it is recorded from the surface down to 33 m. Juveniles are found in great abundance well upstream from brackish water and very young individuals apparently never enter it, while larvae are most abundant in surface waters both day and night. Adults are almost entirely herbivorous filter-feeders, they breed near the surface in fresh water, and the adhesive eggs sink. It is used to some extent as fertilizer and cattle food. Its range is the north-west Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico drainage, from south-eastern South Dakota and central Minnesota, the Great Lakes drainage, and southernmost New York southward to the Mississippi system. Maximum length is about 57 cm fork length, commonly about 35 cm standard length, and it can live ten years. It is a minor commercial species, a gamefish and a usual bait species, with a low price category. Fishing vulnerability is low to moderate at 30 of 100 and resilience medium, and climate vulnerability is moderate to high at 49 of 100. IUCN lists it as least concern.
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