Author: Eichwald, 1838
Alosa caspia Eichwald, 1838
Status in World Register of Marine Species:
Accepted name: Alosa caspia (Eichwald, 1838) (updated 2009-06-25)
Diagnosis: body moderately deep, belly with prominent keel of scutes, upper jaw with a distinct median notch. Gillrakers long, thin and numerous, total 62-88 on first arch, longer than gill filaments. Colour: back blue/green, flanks silvery, usually with a dark spot posterior to gill-opening (in some cases a series of black spots after this). Size: to 20 cm, usually 14-16 cm.
Habitat: euryhaline, chiefly in brackish waters, but entering freshwaters; shoaling when spawning, but often encountered singly at other times. Food: zooplankton, mainly copepods, also phytoplanton. Reproduction: semi-anadromous, entering freshwater to spawn (but Caspian forms also spawn in brackish water at sea): in June (A. Caspia palaeostomi in Palostom Lake), end April to beginning June (A. caspia nordmanni in western part of Black Sea and A. caspia tanaica in eastern part of Black Sea); adults return to the sea shortly after.
Distribution: Black Sea, also Sea of Azov and Caspian.
Subspecies in Svetovidov, 1952, 1963.
A. caspia caspia: not in Clofnam area.
Alosa caspia bulgarica Drensky, 1934
A. caspia bulgarica: total gillrakers 100-101 on first arch; south-western part of Black Sea (Bulgarian shores); as A. alosa bulgarica in Svetovidov, 1952 (Clofnam 33.6.2.1).
Eggs, larvae and young stages. No data.
Otoliths (sagitta). No data.
Alosa caspia nordmanni Antipa, 1906
A. caspia nordmanni: total gillrakers 66 88 on first arch; western part of Black Sea (Clofnam 33.6.2.2).
Eggs, larvae and young stages. Vladimirov, 1955: 59, fig. 18.
Otoliths (sagitta). No data.
Alosa caspia palaeostomi Sadowsky, 1934
A. caspia palaeostomi: total gillrakers 73-87 on first arch; south-eastern part of Black Sea, mainly near Poti and Anakliya (Clofnam 33.6.2.3).
Eggs, larvae and young stages. No data.
Otoliths (sagitta). No data.
Alosa caspia tanaica Grimm, 1901
A. caspia tanaica: total gillrakers 62-85 on first arch; Sea of Azov and adjacent parts of Black Sea (Clofnam 33.6.2.4).
Eggs, larvae and young stages. No data.
Otoliths (sagitta). No data.