Alewives
| Alewife | |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Clupeiformes |
| Family: | Clupeidae |
| Subfamily: | Alosinae |
| Genus: | Alosa |
| Subgenus: | A. (Pomolobus) |
| Species: | A. (P.) pseudoharengus |
| Binomial name | |
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Alosa (Pomolobus) pseudoharengus (A. Wilson, 1811) |
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| Synonyms | |
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The alewife (Alosa pseudoharengus) is an anadromous species of herring found in North America. It is one of the "typical" North American shads, attributed to the subgenus Pomolobus of the genus Alosa. As an adult it is a marine species found in the northern West Atlantic Ocean, moving into estuaries before swimming upstream to breed in fresh water habitats, but some populations live entirely in fresh water. It is best known for its invasion of the Great Lakes by using the Welland Canal to bypass Niagara Falls. Here its population surged, peaking between the 1950s and 1980s to the detriment of many native species of fish, and Pacific salmon were introduced to control them. As a marine fish, the alewife is a US National Marine Fisheries Service "Species of Concern".
Alewives reach a maximum length of about 40 centimeters (16 in), but have an average length of about 25 centimeters (10 inches). The front of the body is deep and larger than other fish found in the same waters, and its common name is said to come from comparison with a corpulent female tavernkeeper ("ale-wife").
In Atlantic Canada it is known as the gaspereau. In southwestern Nova Scotia, it is called a kiack (or kyack). The word "gaspereau" comes from the Acadian French word "gasparot", first mentioned by Nicolas Denys. William Francis Ganong, New Brunswick biologist and historian, wrote:
Gaspereau, or Gasparot. Name of a common salt-water fish of Acadia (also called Alewife), first used, so far as I can find, by Denys in 1672. Nowhere can I find any clue to its origin. It seems not to be Indian.
Acadians named two rivers after the fish, the Gaspereau River in Nova Scotia and the Gaspereaux River in New Brunswick.
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Wikipedia