Max length : 45.0 cm SL male/unsexed; (Ref. 37032); common length : 30.0 cm SL male/unsexed; (Ref. 37032); max. published weight: 1,050 g (Ref. 6114); max. reported age: 22 years (Ref. 72480)
Environment
Benthopelagic; oceanodromous (Ref. 51243); brackish; marine; depth range 0 - 364 m (Ref. 58426)
Climate / Range
Temperate; 1°C - 18°C; 80°N - 33°N, 79°W - 70°E
North Atlantic: northern Bay of Biscay northward to Iceland and southern Greenland, eastward to Spitsbergen and Novaya Zemlya, including the Baltic; southwestern Greenland and Labrador southward to South Carolina. Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Introductions
Short description
Dorsalspines
(total): 0;
Dorsalsoft rays
(total): 13 - 21;
Analspines: 0;
Analsoft rays: 12 - 23;
Vertebrae: 51 - 60. Scutes without prominent keel; no median notch in upper jaw; operculum without radiating bony striae; hind border of gill opening evenly rounded; no distinctive dark spots on body or fins; 12 to 16 post-pelvic scutes (Ref. 188). Silvery, with bluish or greenish blue back. Body elongate (Ref. 7251).
Nerito-pelagic (Ref. 58426). Schooling in coastal waters, with complex feeding and spawning migrations whose timing and extent correlate with the more or less distinct races recognizable on morphological grounds. Feed on small planktonic copepods in the first year, thereafter mainly on copepods. A facultative zooplanktivorous filter-feeder, i.e., it can switch to filter-feeding if the food density and particle size are appropriate (Ref. 28664). Spend the day in deeper water, but rise to the surface at night. They find their food by means of the visual sense. Feeding and growth are very low during winter. Mature sexually at an age of 3-9 years (Ref. 35388). At least one population spawns in any one month of the year. Eggs are laid on substrate. They can be divided into several different stocks and races. The most important races in the East Atlantic are the winter-spawning Norwegian and Icelandic herrings, the autumn spawning Icelandic and North sea herrings and the Baltic herrings. Schooling, silvery sides, excellent hearing, and very fast escape response act as anti-predator devices (Ref. 28664). In Guinness Book of World Records, as the most numerous fish (Ref. 6472), but widely overfished in 1990 (Ref. 28644). Utilized fresh, dried or salted, smoked, canned and frozen; can be fried, broiled, microwaved and baked (Ref. 9988). Light is important factor in controlling their vertical distribution. Cestode larvae and trematodes frequently found as parasites in the gut (Ref. 37032). The Thames-Blackwater Herring Driftnet (http://www.msc.org/html/content_489.htm), Hastings Fleet Pelagic Herring (http://www.msc.org/html/content_1215.htm) and the Pelagic Freezer Trawler Association (PFA) North Sea Herring (http://www.msc.org/html/content_1262.htm) fisheries of this species have been certified by the Marine Stewardship Council (http://www.msc.org/) as well-managed and sustainable.
