Abstract on the topic: Familyherring

Classification and characteristics of the herring fish family (CLUPEIDAE)

Herrings- schooling fish; Most species are marine, some are anadromous, and a few are freshwater. Herrings are one of the most important fishery objects. They are able to accumulate up to 33...35% fat in their body. When salted, they ripen, acquiring a pleasant taste and aroma. Therefore, the bulk of the catch is salted, then part is smoked using cold and hot methods, part is used for the production of canned food, and a small part is sold fresh frozen.
This family is represented by a large number of genera, species and subspecies.

Genus of oceanic herring

It is divided into two types - Atlantic, or multivertebral, and eastern, or few-vertebral (Fig. 1).
Atlantic herring (Clupeaharengus) includes two subspecies: the Atlantic herring itself, common in the northern part of the Atlantic Ocean and the adjacent seas of the Arctic Ocean, and the Baltic herring (herring).
Atlantic herring is represented by the following varieties: Yarmouth, Scottish, Murmansk, Norwegian, Faroese and Icelandic herring. Length - up to 37cm.
Baltic herring or herring (Clupeamembranes), differs from the Atlantic herring proper in its small size (14...16 cm) and fewer vertebrae (54...57). Herring is the main commercial fish of the Baltic Sea.
Eastern herring (Clupeapallasi) represented by two subspecies: Pacific and White Sea.

Rice. 1. Herring:

1 - Atlantic; 2 - Baltic (herring); 3 - Pacific

Pacific herring lives off the eastern coast of Kamchatka, in the Sea of ​​Okhotsk, and off the coast of Southern Sakhalin. Depending on the fishing area, Kamchatka, Okhotsk, Primorye, and Sakhalin herring are distinguished. The most well-fed and largest are Kamchatka herrings, known as “Olyutorsky and Zhupanovsky”. The length of Pacific herring is 25...38 cm, large ones - up to 50 cm.
White Sea herring are valuable commercial fish of the White Sea. They are small, 12...13 cm long and large - 20...30 cm. Small herring predominate in the catches; in autumn and winter containing fat up to 14... 15%, and in spring - around 5 %.

Genus of sprats ( Sprattus )

It is represented by one species and two subspecies: Baltic and Black Sea. Sprats are close to sea herrings.
Baltic sprat, or sprat, is an important commercial fish in the Baltic Sea. Length - up to 15 cm, fat content - up to 15.2%.
Black Sea sprat is one of the many fish of the Black Sea. Length - up to 13 cm, fat content - up to 12.6%.

Kilka genus or Caspian sprat(Clupeonetlacultrivetris ).

Includes four types of fish: Azov-Black Sea sprat (length 9 cm, fat content in autumn up to 17...18%); Caspian common sprat (length 14...15 cm, fat content up to 12%) (Fig. 3); anchovy sprat, living in the Caspian Sea (length up to 15.5 cm, fat content no more than 6.4%); big-eyed sprat, also common in the Caspian Sea (length up to 14.5 cm).

Genus of the Caspian-Black Sea herring(Alosacaspia).

By appearance They are divided into two groups: herrings and herrings.
Herring includes several species and subspecies:
Caspian blackback (zalom, rabies) is a large fish, reaching a length of up to 52 cm and a weight of 1.8 kg, the fat content of meat during the feeding period is 19...20%. The most nutritionally valuable of the Caspian herrings;
Volga herring is smaller, 26...31 cm long, meat fat content during the feeding period is up to 10%;
Brazhnikovskaya herring (Alosabrashnikova) — There are several subspecies: Dolginskaya, Astrakhanskaya, Gasankulinskaya. Large and medium-sized fish 42...50 cm long, meat fat content - 5...8%;
Black Sea-Azov herring (rusak) (Alosamaeotica) — has several subspecies: Kerch, Danube, Dnieper, Don. The most valuable are Kerch and Danube herrings, which have tender, tasty meat with a fat content of 18...26%.
Puzankas (Alosinae) include several subspecies: Azov - up to 20 cm long, with a fat content of up to 35%; North Caspian—up to 21...23 cm long, with a fat content of up to 18%; big-eyed - up to 35 cm long.

Genera European sardine, sardinella and sardinops

Fish species of these genera are called sardines (Sardinapilchardus). The first two genera are also called “true sardines” and are sold under the general trade name “Sardines.”
European sardines are common in the waters of the eastern Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of Southern Europe and North-West Africa, in the Mediterranean and Black Seas. They have a length of up to 20...30 cm, and in the Black Sea - from 9...17 cm.
Sardinella is caught in the waters of the Indian and Western Pacific oceans. Their length is up to 30 cm. The meat is pale pink, slightly sour in taste.

Fish are classified according to a number of characteristics: lifestyle, fishing season, sex, physiological state, fatness, feeding pattern, length or weight.

AB - fishing length of fish; AB - standard size; 1 - gill cover; 2 - hard dorsal fin; 3 - soft dorsal fin; 4 - caudal fin; 5 - lateral line; 6 - anal fin; 7 - anus; 8 - ventral fins; 9 - pectoral fins

The length of the fish is measured in a straight line from the top of the snout to the beginning of the middle rays of the caudal fin (Fig. 20). Some small and low-value fish are classified as small fish I, II or Group III. A number of fish species listed in the standard are not subdivided by length and weight. The minimum length of fish that can be caught is set by fishing regulations and international conventions.

IN commodity practice fish are classified by species and families.

A species is a collection of individuals occupying a certain geographical area and having a number of inherited characteristics that distinguish this type from related species. Species that are similar in a number of characteristics are grouped into genera, and the latter into families.

IN trading practices Classification of fish into families is carried out mainly by external characteristics. Strictly scientific classification of fish into families is carried out according to many characteristics. Characteristics of the main characteristics of the families of fish most commonly found in commercial practice are given below.

Herring family has a laterally compressed body, covered with easily falling scales. There is no lateral line. There is one dorsal fin, the caudal fin has a deep notch. Herrings of commercial importance are: Atlantic, Pacific, Danube, Don, Dnieper, Kerch, Volga, Chernospinka, Azov belly, Herring, Sardines, Sardinella, Sardi-nops (Ivasi); sprat: Caspian, Baltic (sprats), Black Sea, Tyulka.

Anchovy family has a cigar-shaped body, similar in size to small herrings. This family includes the Azov-Black Sea Hamsa and Anchovy.

Sturgeon family has an elongated fusiform body, with five rows of bone formations - beetles: two abdominal, two thoracic, one dorsal. Elongated snout, With four antennae. The dorsal fin is single, the caudal fin is unequally lobed. Of commercial importance are: beluga, kaluga, sturgeon, thorn, stellate sturgeon, sterlet. By crossing beluga and sterlet, Soviet scientists obtained a bester, which is bred in reservoirs.

Carp family has a tall, laterally compressed body, covered with tightly fitting scales, sometimes naked. The dorsal fin is one, soft, the lateral line is well defined, the teeth are pharyngeal. This family includes fish of inland waters: carp, carp, crucian carp, roach, roach, ram, bream, white-eye, bluefish, barbel, silver carp, grass carp, buffalo, vimba, shemaya.

Salmon family has a tall body, laterally compressed, covered with small scales. There are two dorsal fins, the second is adipose. The lateral line is well defined. Chum salmon, pink salmon, sockeye salmon, Chinook salmon, Caspian salmon, salmon, trout, whitefish, vendace, muksun, and omul are of commercial importance.

Family smelt has an oblong body shape, with easily falling scales, and an incomplete lateral line. There are two dorsal fins, the second is adipose. Main species: European smelt, smelt, capelin.

Perch family has two dorsal fins, the first is spiny, the anal fin has three spiny rays, the lateral line is straight, and there are transverse stripes on the sides. Common species: perch, pike perch, ruff.

Horse mackerel family has a flattened body shape. The lateral line has a sharp bend in the middle, and in some species is covered with bony spines. There are two dorsal fins, the first is spiny, the second is soft and long. There are two spines in front of the anal fin. The tail stalk is thin. The Azov-Black Sea mackerel, oceanic mackerel, trevally, seriola, pompano, lichia, and vomer are of commercial importance.

Cod family are divided into subfamilies of cod-like and burbot-like. The former have three dorsal and two anal fins, the latter have two dorsal and one anal. This sea ​​fish, with the exception of burbot. They have a well-defined lateral line. The pelvic fins are located under the pectoral fins or in front, and many representatives have a barbel on the chin.

The body shape is close to torpedo-shaped. Cod, haddock, navaga, pollock, pollock, blue whiting, burbot, and cod are of commercial importance.

Mackerel family has an elongated fusiform body and a slender caudal peduncle. There are two dorsal fins; behind the second dorsal and anal fins there are four to seven additional fins. Black Sea, common, and Japanese mackerels are of commercial importance. Mackerels are sold under the names “Azov-Black Sea mackerel”, “Far Eastern mackerel”, “Kuril mackerel”, “Atlantic mackerel”.

In terms of body shape and arrangement of fins, tuna, bonito, and mackerel fish are similar to mackerel; the latter have one dorsal fin and additional fins.

Flounder family has a flat body, flattened from the back to the abdomen, the eyes are located on one side of the head. Dorsal and anal fins along the entire length of the body. The commercially important halibuts are black, common, and arrow-toothed; sharp-headed and river flounder.

Of the fish of other families, the following are of commercial importance.

Groupers golden, beaked, Pacific from the scorpionfish family have a large head, an oblong, laterally compressed body, often red in color, one dorsal fin, usually spiny in the front.

Catfish striped and spotted from the catfish family

They have one long soft dorsal fin, a large round head, and the body in the back is laterally compressed.

Terpugi northern, southern, toothy have a spindle-shaped body, one spiny dorsal fin, highly developed anal and pectoral fins.

Ice fish from the white-blooded family, it has a large head with an elongated snout, two lateral lines, the color is light green, the blood is colorless, as it contains copper instead of iron.

Butterfish and butterfish small fish from the Stromatoid family they have a flattened high body, one soft long dorsal fin of the same size and shape as the anal fin, the lateral line follows the curve of the ridge.

Marbled and green notothenia, squama, toothfish from the nototheniaceae family have a large head, two spiny dorsal fins, a long anal fin, large pectoral fins, and the body is thickened in the front.

Croaker, captain, umbrina- fish from the croaker family, have a high body, a humpbacked back in front, one dorsal fin, divided by a deep notch, the front part is spiny, the lateral line is well defined.

Macruruses from the grenadier family they have an elongated body that tapers off at the tail in the form of a thread. There are two dorsal fins.

Other types of fish that are caught are catfish, pike, lamprey, eel, gobies, argentina, mullet, eelpout, pristipoma, bluefish from families that have similar names, and sea bream from the brahmin family; merrow, rock perch - from the serranaceae family.

The herring family (Clupeidae) includes a large number of small and medium sized fish. Their body is covered with light falling scales; the head is bare; no antennae. Due to the special shape of the scales, the belly sometimes looks like a sharp rib. The upper edge of the jaw is formed from the premaxillary and maxillary bones, and the upper jaw consists of at least three movably connected parts. Herrings lack an adipose fin. The gills are very developed; gill slits are wide; in some species the gill arches are densely covered with gill rakers, forming a good sieve, while in others (predatory) they are present only in small quantities. These gill rakers serve to filter water and trap the smallest animals that herring feed on. The stomach of herrings has a blind pouch, and the intestinal canal has numerous blind appendages. The swim bladder is simple and connected to the labyrinth by special bones.

Herring fish are found in the seas, and only a few of their species are migratory fish, that is, they enter rivers to spawn. A small number of herring fish have adapted to fresh water and live in rivers and lakes. Herring feed on microscopic plant and animal organisms floating in the water (plankton), as well as small fish that they can swallow.

In fisheries, herrings play a huge role and occupy first place among commercial fish. Common herring is caught by the billions and is distributed among all nations as a cheap fish. In the USSR, from 2,500 to 3,500 thousand centners of herring are caught annually. Behind Lately Herring fisheries are developing very strongly in the Far East and North.

Pacific herring, with its good taste, is now in great demand in the domestic markets of the USSR. Before the revolution, due to the backwardness of procurement and transportation methods, it was consumed only by the local population and, in addition to food, was used to fertilize fields. The herring family includes more than 60 species.

Sea herring (Clupea) have a strongly laterally compressed body. Their belly is rounded. The dorsal fin is located above the ventral fins. The lower jaw is longer than the upper jaw and has a special recess into which the edges of the upper jaw are inserted. The premaxillary and mandibular bones, as well as the tongue and vomer, are lined with small teeth. The free edges of the maxillary bones have small serrations. There are 8 gill rays on each side of the head. The greatest length of real herring is 37 and even 42 centimeters.

Common herring (Clupea harengus) and herring variety, found in our Gulf of Finland, have the following characteristics. On the vomer, small teeth are arranged in an oblong triangle. On the anterior gill arches there are each 65 to 70 thin and long gill rakers, similar to spines. On the preopercular bones there are tortuous grooves and filiform grooves. There are about 40 bony keel scales on the belly and 13 similar keel scales behind the ventral fins. The pelvic fins are located just below the dorsal fin. The common herring is colored bluish-green on top (back), and its sides and belly are white with a silvery sheen; fins are whitish-gray. The eyes are silver in color, often with a dark spot on the upper side. Sometimes there is a red-cheeked herring and, less often, all red or purple (Nikolsky).

The length of fish varies in different waters. Thus, Baltic herring and White Sea herring reach a length of 16 centimeters, Atlantic herring - 22 and Far Eastern herring - 30 centimeters.

1-finta (Alosa fintaj; 2-sprat (Spratella sprattus); 3-herring (Clupea harengus); 1/3 of the real size.

Common herring are found in all the northern seas of Europe, going down to the south of the Atlantic Ocean to the Bay of Biscay off the coast of Europe and to New York off the coast of America, and in the Pacific Ocean to San Diego, Hokkaido and Fuzan. Within the USSR, this type of herring lives in the White, Barents and Baltic Seas, and in the Far East, in the Bering Sea, in the eastern part Sea of ​​Okhotsk, in the Tartary Strait and in the northern part of the Sea of ​​Japan, but is not found in the Arctic Ocean along the coast of Siberia.

The common herring is an exclusively marine fish, which constantly wanders in search of food or, gathering in huge schools, makes significant movements to spawning sites, which are located in shallow water off the coast. In view of this, herring either stay in the open sea at considerable depth, or swim off the coast, enter bays and even river mouths.

Common herring forms numerous races that spawn at different times.

For example, in the Baltic Sea, spawning occurs in the “spring race” in April, and in the “autumn race” in August and September. In the waters of the Far East, southern races spawn in April-May, and more northern races spawn later, the closer to the north their habitat is. Herring spawn in open bays with reefs and rich vegetation, displaying enormous fertility. On average, each female spawns about 30 thousand eggs, which, given the countless number of spawning fish, completely ensures offspring.

The biggest catches of herring, as one might expect, occur during spawning. However, spawning occurs in different terms, which depends on weather conditions and other reasons. Fluctuations in terms vary from several days to several weeks. Fishermen have different signs by which they try to guess the arrival of herring in a particular place, but all these signs are not reliable. It often happens that one year there are huge numbers of herring near a place, but the next year only a few fish are found there. Only thorough Scientific research, which requires many years, makes it possible to accurately establish the routes and time of the “herring run.” We are carrying out work in this direction while studying southern and northern species of herring.

In some years, herring approach the shores exclusively in huge schools. The fish move in a continuous mass for many kilometers in width and length. The herrings move close to each other, and the lower layers, pushing against the upper ones, push the mass of herrings upward, where they become easy prey for huge flocks of seagulls and other winged predators following the herrings.

The herring fishery has played and continues to play a huge role in the life of coastal states. So, economic power The famous Hanseatic League was largely based on herring. The Hanseatic people were the first to catch herring and dry salt it. If we take into account that salt in those days (XIII and XIV centuries) was an expensive commodity, then the high value of salted herring becomes clear. Hanseatic herring spread all over the world without competitors.

Later, the Dutch improved the technique of mass herring fishing on the high seas. But the main blow to the Hansa was dealt by the Dutch when they began to use brine in barrels. The herring power of Holland lasted until the publication of the famous Cromwell Navigation Act (17th century), which prohibited foreign ships from bringing goods to England and its colonies. From this time on, the herring fisheries of England and Scotland began to play a major role.

Now, in addition to the Dutch and English, common herring is caught by Norwegians, Swedes, Germans, Danes, Russians—in short, peoples living off the coast of the Atlantic Ocean, the German, Baltic and White Seas. Abroad, they catch herring with huge nets, consisting of dozens of small nets, so that the entire order of nets sometimes reaches 2 kilometers in length, covering a significant area of ​​water. These huge nets are woven from paper threads by machines, then tanned for strength. To catch herring, special vessels called “luggers” are equipped and sent to the open sea with a supply of provisions for 7-8 weeks. Luggers lower nets into the sea and float with them according to the will of the wind and sea currents. The caught fish is put into baskets and transferred to the hold. There are cases that one ship caught 120 barrels in one night, i.e. up to 80 thousand pieces of herring.

The herring is salted right there on the ship and sealed in barrels. The throat of a live fish is cut out, the liver and bile are removed, and they try to bleed it as much as possible. When the catch is especially large, the herring is salted directly without cleaning. In Scotland and Norway, where herring is caught close to the coast, salting is done on the shore. In Norway, herring fishing is carried out in fiords (bays), where it is locked in special nets and then gradually caught.

Eastern herring (Clupea harengus paiiasi); 1/4 of the real size.

Within the USSR, herring fishing is carried out using seines, floating nets, fixed nets and locks in bays. For example, in the Caspian Sea and on its western (Caucasian) coast, herring is caught with seines. Here the catches reach enormous amounts - up to 8,200 centners per ton, i.e. over 50 carloads of fish at a time.

On the Volga, herring is caught with seines and floating nets, and in the northern Caspian Sea, herring, like all other fish, is caught with fixed nets.

The total herring catch off European coasts is approximately several billion each year.

In addition to the common herring, we have a fairly significant catch of its variety, herring, or herring (Clupea harengus, var. membras), which is carried out along the southern coast of the Gulf of Finland. New salmon is also caught near Kronstadt, from where it is delivered frozen to Leningrad.

In pre-war times, about 410 thousand centners, or 1 billion 760 million pieces, of common herring were caught in Russian waters. As for the White Sea, the annual catch there is estimated at 200 million pieces, or about 54,660 centners. In the Far East, 70 million pieces, or about 62,500 quintals, were mined. In the Barents Sea and on the Murmansk coast, fishing was insignificant - no more than 3 million pieces, or 820 quintals.

Behind last years Fish production is steadily increasing. Thus, already in 1931 the annual catch was equal to 221 thousand centners, and in 1934 it already exceeded 1 million centners. Currently, the Far Eastern fishery is developing especially strongly, as well as the White Sea fishery, revived thanks to the Murmansk railway and the White Sea-Baltic Canal.

The eastern herring (Clupea harengus pallasi) is very similar to the common herring. Her lower jaw protrudes forward. The abdomen in front of the ventral fins is very slightly compressed laterally, and behind these fins it has serrations. The gill rakers are very thin and long. There are small numbers of teeth on the tongue and premaxillary bones. The body is bluish above; sides are silver. The length of the eastern herring sometimes reaches 46 centimeters.

Eastern herring is found in the Sea of ​​Okhotsk and Bering Sea. Here it is found off the coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula, off the coast of Sakhalin Island and the Commander Islands, as well as off the mainland coast in the vicinity of Vladivostok. Here the mass movement of herring is so great that it allows you to catch it in huge quantities without much effort and expense. The trades are justified even when preparing such a cheap product as fertilizing fertilizer, which is the case here on the western coast of Sakhalin. This is where the warm Tsushima Current ends. To the north of this current, where the waters are colder, the herring movement weakens. Thus, in the vicinity of Douai and Aleksandrovsk, herring does not come in such innumerable quantities to justify the fertilizer fishery. Meanwhile, in southern Sakhalin, sometimes it’s as if the sea itself takes care of people and during spring storms throws whole piles of fish ashore.

For example, in April 1899, near Korsakovsk, a storm washed a huge amount of herring onto the shore, laying it in a pile. Local settlers arrived with carts and cartloads of fish.

Much less herring is found off the coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula and off the mainland coast.

Typically, herring appear off all of the above-mentioned coasts, as well as off the western coasts of the Japanese islands of Nippon and Yesso in the spring, but the exact timing of appearance varies greatly depending on location and meteorological conditions. The first appearance of herring catches your eye - the fish immediately rush to the shore in huge masses. Usually, before and after spawning, herring stay in the open sea, but with the onset of spring they gather in shoals (flocks) and the whole mass rolls to the shore, where they walk in schools almost at the very bottom, choosing places for spawning. The fish here, as industrialists put it, “walk” for a day or two at a depth of 7-9 meters, then come close to the shore and spawn in the thickets of coastal algae. Having spawned, the herring soon leaves the coast, after which there is a break of almost two weeks, when very few herring are found near the coast. After this time, the second move or several small moves begin, continuing until the third move, which ends in the first half of June. In some fisheries, a fourth move is also observed, closer to the end of June. The first move is the most abundant with fish and the most important commercially. If industrialists manage to catch the required amount of fish in the first two to four days of the move, they are provided for for the year. If some of them miss the first move or fail, then in the remaining moves they will be able to improve their affairs little.

In winter, all herring fisheries are usually empty, but with the first signs of spring, fish farmers, almost exclusively Japanese, come here in huge numbers. Usually the owners and their contracted workers arrive on Japanese ships. Work immediately begins to boil. Boats and fishing gear are put in order, disassembled boilers and presses are installed; finally, the net is set out in anticipation of the arrival of the herring.

The Japanese seine net (“kakoami”) is very unique. It is a huge flat net bag, which is located with a long axis along the shore, supported in the sea by “balbers” and strengthened by six anchors. In the middle of the side of the bag that faces the shore is the entrance hole; if you pull the rope, it is easily and tightly tightened with a special net curtain. From the middle of the inlet, barrier nets made of large-mesh rice straw extend straight to the shore. Barrier nets are placed at a depth of up to 1 or l1 meters, while the seine itself, or bag, is placed at a depth of 61/2 to 8/2 meters, 425-640 meters from the shore, depending on local conditions.

The actual fishing with such bags occurs as follows: schools of herring, passing along the shore, come across protective nets, swim under them and fall into a net, or bag. With a good herring progress, filling the bag occurs in one hour, and together with other operations it takes no more than 2 or 2% of the hours. Each such bag filled with fish weighs, depending on its size, from approximately 600 to 1220 centners, which, according to a rough estimate, is from 500 thousand to 1 million pieces of herring. Under favorable conditions, large industrialists catch up to 8 bags per day, i.e. up to 10 thousand centners. Thus, with luck, one day can provide fishing for a whole year.

But such luck does not happen often, since the fishing conditions are very difficult. At this time the sea is particularly rough and cold water; The weather is also cold, with freezing winds. Most of the fishing takes place at night, by the light of torches and lanterns, and people do not sleep for several nights in a row. There are often cases when a storm arises before the eyes of industrialists and destroys the wealth they have just extracted. A lot of raw fish is wasted waiting for salting or preparation of fertilizers, when it lies in the open air for a week and rots. Currently, this herring, under the name Pacific herring, is supplied in salted form to the domestic markets of the USSR. Its catch increased twenty times compared to the previous one and was already expressed in 1926 in the amount of 273 thousand centners.

True sprat (Spratella sprattus); real size.

True sprat (Spratella sprattus) belongs to the herring family, but differs from its relatives in its small size, no more than 13 centimeters in length, a strongly laterally compressed body, a strong keel on the abdomen and a slightly retracted dorsal fin. The scales of the sprat are smooth and fall off easily. The palatine bones and tongue have small teeth, but the vomer is toothless. The lower jaw protrudes slightly forward. Behind the vertical dorsal fins there are 11 to 12 ventral scutes.

Sprat are found in the Baltic and German seas and the northeastern part of the Atlantic Ocean. In the waters of the USSR, sprat are found in the Gulf of Finland, reaching the mouth of the Narova and even Kronstadt. A special subspecies of sprat, Spratella sprattus phalerica, lives in the Black Sea. In terms of lifestyle, sprat is similar to ordinary herring. Typically, sprat stay at a considerable depth, but to spawn they approach the shores of the German and Baltic seas in innumerable flocks. In the Baltic Sea, spawning occurs in May and June, but the mass appearance of these fish does not always coincide with the spawning time. Kilka is caught, like herring, with smooth nets, but with a small mesh. Particularly large quantities of sprat are caught off the coast of England, where overfishing occurs when the entire catch cannot be used and millions of dead fish are thrown into the sea.

In Germany, up to 16 million sprat are caught annually, which are smoked and sold under the name sprats. Smoked sprats, or sprat, are sold dry (“kopchuzhki”), and more often they are sealed in boxes cooked with olive oil. In Norway, sprat is pickled and sold under the name anchovies. Sprat called "revel" are prepared with various hot spices and sold in sealed cans.

Tulka (Clupeonella), also called sausage and, not quite correctly, sprat, is found in huge quantities in the Azov-Black Sea basin and in the Caspian Sea, where it is represented by the common sausage, or sprat (Clupeonella delicatula). It has an elongated and low body of silver color with an olive tint on the back. This fish has from 43 to 55 gill rakers. There are from 40 to 50 transverse rows of scales along the body length, and 24 abdominal scutes. There are no teeth. The length of the sausages varies from 10 to 15 centimeters. It is close to the true sprat, but differs in the dorsal fin moved forward, the presence of two longer last rays in the anal fin and some other characteristics.

The sausage is also found in Lake Charkhale, where it is somewhat different from the Caspian one. In spring, these small herrings are found at the mouths of the Volga and Ural. Another species of Caspian sprat, Clupeonella grimmi, inhabits the southern and middle Caspian Sea. The lifestyle of both species is the same. They live mainly in the upper layers of water and feed on small crustaceans. Spawning in the northern and middle Caspian occurs from May to July, and in the southern Caspian almost all year round.

The sprat fishery in the Caspian Sea is poorly developed, but has every chance of great development.

The wiener, or crooked sprat (Clupeonella cultriventris), differs from the ordinary sausage in that its belly is more noticeably curved than its back. It is colored like this: the back is bluish; sides are silvery-white. The ventral scutes are highly developed and form strong spines from 26 to 30 pieces, and behind the ventral fins there are 9 or 10 spines. The length of the crooked sausage is 11 centimeters.

These sprat are found in the Black Sea, where they stay mainly at the mouths of rivers in the northwestern part of the sea, and sometimes enter rivers. Along the Bug River, for example, they rise to Nikolaev and even to Voznesensk. The fishery for sausages, or southern sprat, has reached very significant proportions in the Azov-Black Sea basin, yielding 300-400 thousand centners annually in recent years.

The sardine (Sardina pilchardus) resembles a sprat in appearance, but it does not have teeth on the tongue and palatal bones. On the abdomen, behind the ventral fins, there are 12 to 14 scutes. The length of the sardine reaches from 18 to 25 centimeters.

Sardine (Sardina pilchardus); 1/5 of the real value.

Sardines are found off the European shores of the Atlantic Ocean, as well as in the German and Mediterranean seas. There are especially many sardines along all the French coasts and the northern coasts of Spain, as well as in the waters of southern England. IN winter time sardines live scatteredly, but in March they gather in flocks and approach the shores in masses. They do not have a strictly defined time for spawning, but this usually happens in the fall and less often in the summer. When spawning, schools are as dense and huge as herring.

Sardines are caught in huge quantities. In England, there were cases when up to 25 million sardines were caught, i.e. up to 10 thousand barrels. In France they fish with ordinary flowing nets with a small mesh, with bait in the form of cod eggs thrown in front of the net.

Sardines are cooked mainly in oil and sold all over the world in sealed tin boxes. The annual catch of sardines varies widely. In some years, billions of them are caught, and in other years no more than a few hundred million.

Iwashi, or Japanese sardine (Sardina melanosticta), is caught in the Sea of ​​Japan, off the coast of Korea, in Peter the Great Bay, the Tartar Strait to Cape Lazarev and in small quantities in Avachinskaya Bay (Kamchatka). In recent years, the movement of this fish to the north has been noticed. By lifestyle, as well as by fat content and taste qualities resembles an ordinary sardine, but is significantly different in appearance. Iwashi has smaller scales, a larger head, and dark spots located above the lateral line. The commercial importance of Iwasi is increasing every year. Its fishing over the years since 1933 is close to 1 million centners.

A special genus (Caspialosa) consists of herrings that live in the southern seas of the USSR. These herrings are characterized by a large mouth, teeth on the vomer, a strong keel on the abdomen, and the presence of elongated scales at the base of the caudal fin. Of these, the following types are the most important in the national economy:

Pot-bellied (Caspialosa caspia). Its length on average does not exceed 23 centimeters. The belly of the belly is strongly curved. The maxillary bones contain teeth that are very unequally developed. The number of gill rakers varies between 85 and 135. Between the dorsal and ventral fins there are from 14 to 16 longitudinal rows of scales. The scales fall off easily. A fresh belly is colored greenish on the back with a silvery tint. The fins, except the ventral ones, are gray. Puzanok in the Caspian Sea forms a number of forms, of which the northern and two southern ones are the best known.

The bellyfish lives throughout the Caspian Sea, partly also in the lower reaches of the Volga. In the spring, in March and April, large numbers of bellies come to the western shore of the sea and the mouths of the Volga.

Spawning in puzankas occurs mainly in the northwestern corner of the Caspian Sea, in the pre-estuary Volga space, and partly in lake-like reservoirs adjacent to the Volga delta, in the so-called “substeppe ilmens”. The female belly spawns over 150 thousand eggs in three steps.

The food of these herrings consists of small animals that live in the upper layers of water.

The common herring (Caspialosa volgensis), also called the iron herring, lives in the northern half of the Caspian Sea. In the spring, the common herring approaches the shores and, moving along them to the north in huge masses, enters the Volga, where they spawn in May-June in three stages. Spawning in 3-5 years.

The average length of this herring is 35 centimeters, and fertility is determined on average at 180 thousand eggs for each female. The common herring feeds partly on small crustaceans and partly on small fish. Two races are known: multi-stamen (up to 140 stamens) and few-stamen. Blackback herring or hall herring (Caspialosa kessleri), also called rabies, are distinguished by a thick, ridged body with an elongated caudal peduncle.

Blackback herring (Caspialosa kessleri); 1/3 of the real value.

When the mouth is closed, the lower jaw protrudes slightly forward. The teeth are located on the maxillary, mandibular and premaxillary bones. Gill rakers are thick and uneven, 60-96 on each first gill arch. There are 52 transverse rows of scales along the body and 15 rows between the dorsal and ventral fins. The scales of the blackback are stronger than those of the bellyfish, and are colored dark purple on the back, which was the reason for its name. The length of the blackback reaches 40 centimeters.

In its lifestyle, the blackback, or zalom, is similar to the common herring, but spawns only in the middle reaches of the Volga (Saratov-Kazan and above). Spawning occurs in June-July. The peculiarity of this herring is that it spawns only once in its life, after which it dies from exhaustion.

Blackbacks feed on fish, eating small herrings, gobies, sprat, silversides and others.

Dolgan herring (Caspialosa braschnikovi) differs from other Caspian species in that it lives exclusively in the sea. Dolgin herring forms two races that live along the western shore of the Caspian Sea, north of the Absheron Peninsula and in the northeastern corner of the sea.

Dolginskaya herring reaches an average of 38 centimeters in length; the largest dimensions are over 48 centimeters. On average, a female lays about 66 thousand eggs. Spawns in the fourth year, spawns several times, lives 8-10 years. The western race of this herring spawns in slightly desalinated areas of the sea, and the eastern race, on the contrary, in highly saline areas. In the southern third of the Caspian Sea and off its eastern coast, the described species is represented by several forms. The Dolnskaya herring, like the blackback, feeds exclusively on small fish.

The remaining species and varieties of herring in the Caspian Sea are found in relatively small quantities and constitute only “by-catch” in the herring fishery. The total annual production of herring in the Caspian Sea reached a huge figure in pre-revolutionary times, sometimes exceeding 2 million centners, but even then the catches showed large fluctuations from year to year, indicating that in addition to the predatory methods of herring fishing that existed at that time, apparently The reproduction of herring was unfavorably influenced by some other factors, which periodically affected the decline in the catch.

Catch statistics apparently show a decline in Caspian herring stocks even in pre-revolutionary times. The continuing decline in herring catches over the past 6 years from 1,276 thousand centners in 1930 to 294 thousand centners in 1936, despite the streamlining of the fishery, suggests that it is not only problems in the fishery that are causing this decline

Thus, the Caspian herring fishery, which was the largest in the USSR, currently faces competitors in the herring catch in the Far East and the North.

Black Sea herrings are divided into two groups: Black Sea-Danube and Azov-Black Sea. Black Sea blackback (Caspialosa pontica), together with three species, belongs to the western Black Sea-Danube group. The length of this herring is 37 centimeters. The western group also includes a smaller species (Caspialosa nordmanni), the length of which does not exceed 20 centimeters. Nothing is known about the lifestyle of these herrings. Usually in the spring they enter in significant quantities into the Danube and partly into the Dniester and Dnieper for spawning.

In pre-war times, the total annual catch reached 51/2 million pieces, or 7380 centners. After the capture of Bessarabia by Romania, when the lower reaches of the Danube and the left side of the Dniester moved away from us, the production of western Black Sea herring decreased.

As for the eastern group of Black Sea herring, three species live in the eastern part of the Black Sea and the Azov Sea: the local race of blackback (Caspialosa pontica) and the species Caspialosa tanaica and Caspialosa maeotica. All of them winter in the eastern part of the Black Sea, and in the spring they enter the Sea of ​​Azov through the Kerch Strait. From here, the first two species go to spawn in the Don, and the third species (Caspialosa maeotica) spawns in the desalinated parts of the Sea of ​​​​Azov. In autumn, the return journey of herring from the Azov Sea to the Black Sea begins. In the Kerch Strait, the first herring appears in early September. At this time it is very fatty, tasty and remarkably tender. Following the first schools of small herring, larger and larger specimens appear, and this movement continues until the ice.

This double passage of herring through the narrow Kerch Strait is very favorable for fishing.

Total herring catches in the Azov-Black Sea basin in recent years ranged from 60 to 117 thousand centners.

It is also worth mentioning the genus Alosa, close to Caspialosa, which differs in the absence of teeth on the vomer. This genus includes the finch (Alosa finta), a herring that lives off the coast of Europe and enters the rivers of the German and Baltic seas to spawn.

Features and habitat of herring

Herring is a common name for several species fish belonging to the herring family. All of them are of commercial importance and are caught on a large industrial scale.

The body is slightly pressed from the sides and covered with moderate or large thin scales.

On the blue-dark or olive-colored back, one fin is located in the middle. The ventral fin grows directly below it, and the caudal fin has a distinctive notch.

Along the abdomen, silver in color, along the midline there is a keel consisting of slightly pointed scales.

The size of the herring is small, even small. On average, it grows up to 30-40 cm. Those with an exclusively migratory lifestyle can grow up to 75 cm.

Large eyes are set deep on the head. Teeth are either weak or completely absent. The lower jaw is slightly better developed and protrudes beyond the upper jaw. Small mouth.

Herring May be sea ​​or river fish. In fresh water it lives in rivers, most often found on the Volga, Don or Dnieper.

In salt water, in impressive schools, it is found in the Atlantic, Pacific and Arctic oceans.

Loves temperate climate, therefore, in very cold and hot tropical waters it is represented by a few species.

Pictured is a school of herring

Few people know what kind of fish called Pereyaslavl herring. The funny thing is that she has nothing to do with this family at all, although in appearance she slightly resembles it.

In fact, it is vendace. It was forbidden to catch it, much less sell it, under penalty of death.

They ate it only in the royal chambers, at various ceremonies. This famous fish is depicted on the coat of arms of the city of Pereslyavl-Zalessky.

Character and lifestyle of herring

Life sea ​​fish herring passes far from the coast. It swims closer to the surface of the water, rarely falling even below 300 m.

It lives in large flocks, which it forms during the period when the eggs hatch. Young people, at this time, try to be together.

This is also facilitated by the initial feeding on plankton, which is always abundant in sea water, so there is no competition.

The jamb remains unchanged for a long time and very rarely mixes with others.

River fish herring is an anadromous fish. Living in the Black and Caspian Seas, it goes to fresh places to spawn.

On the way back, exhausted individuals die en masse, never reaching home.

Herring nutrition

Herring's food preferences change as they grow and mature. After hatching, the very first food for the young is napulia.

Having grown up, herring eats, Which will catch a small one fish, crustaceans and benthos. Their size directly depends on gastronomic preferences. Only by switching completely to the diet of a predator can it grow to a suggestible size.

Reproduction and lifespan of herring

There are many types of herring, so we can say that their spawning lasts all year round. Large-sized individuals scurry at depth, and small ones closer to the shores.

During the breeding season they gather in huge flocks, so numerous that, supporting the lower layers of fish, they simply push the upper ones out of the water.

Spawning occurs simultaneously in all individuals, the water becomes cloudy in color and a specific smell spreads far around.

The female lays up to 100,000 eggs at a time, they sink to the bottom and stick to the ground, shell shell or pebbles. Their diameter depends on the type of herring.

After 3 weeks, larvae begin to emerge, measuring about 8 mm. Fast currents begin to carry them throughout the entire body of water. Reaching a length of 6 cm, they gather in schools and stay near coastlines.

During spawning (May - June), transitional herring rises upstream in freshwater rivers.

The throwing itself occurs at night, while the eggs float freely in the water without attaching to the bottom.

Young herring, having gained strength, begin to move downstream along the river, so that by the beginning of winter they get to the sea.

Types of herring

There are many types of herring, about 60 species, so we will consider only the most popular of them. Fish herring mackerel It is found in the North and Norwegian Seas, where it is caught during the warmer months.

It is fast-swimming, with a lifespan of up to 20 years. She is a predator and therefore grows to impressive sizes.

Having reached 3-4 years, she heads to the southwest of Ireland to spawn. The most popular delicacy made from it is in sour cream sauce.

Black Sea herring lives in the Azov and Black Seas; spawning begins in May–June. It feeds on crustaceans and small fish that swim in the upper layers of water.

The average size of this species reaches 40 cm. Catching it is very popular among amateur fishermen. More often pickles exactly this one herring fish hit store shelves.

Pacific herring live at all depths. It is large - more than 50 cm in length, and weighing 700 g. Its meat contains the most iodine than other species.

It is mined on a huge commercial scale: Russia, USA, Japan. Most often, on photo of herring, you can notice exactly this type fish.

The famous herring swims in the waters of the Baltic Sea. It is small in size, about 20 cm. It feeds only on plankton, even after reaching adulthood. Into this food fish - herring used more often in salty form.

Another popular representative lives there - the Baltic sprat. These tasty fry are caught even off the coast of New Zealand and Tierra del Fuego. Our most popular use for this type is canned food.

The most controversial representative herring fish- This Ivasi. The thing is that it belongs to the sardine family, and only looks like a herring.

This fish appeared on the shelves of the USSR under the trademark “Ivasi herring”, which caused confusion in the future.

In those distant times, catching this fish was cheap, because its numerous schools swam close to the shore, but then they went far out to sea, and catching it became unprofitable.

Many nutrition experts claim that a fish table is healthier and more hygienic than a meat table. It is especially useful to alternate fish meat with the meat of warm-blooded animals in your diet. Fish is an easily digestible product. Fish meat is usually digested faster in the stomach. Herring fish are not inferior to large fish in their nutritional value and taste. They contain up to 33% easily digestible fat, rich in vitamins A, D, E and K. In terms of the content of complete proteins, herring fish are superior to mammalian meat. The minerals in herring fish are also diverse, including phosphorus, potassium, calcium, sodium, magnesium, iron, sulfur, chlorine, copper, manganese, iodine, bromine and other elements. For the normal functioning of the cells of the central nervous system, phosphorus and all of the above elements are necessary.

The combination of high taste and nutritional qualities makes it possible to prepare a wide range of dishes and snacks from herring.

But before getting acquainted with this assortment, let's clarify what herring fish we're talking about in our book.

Herring are ocean schooling fish. Length 30–35 cm, weight 200–500 g. The body is elongated, laterally compressed, silvery in color, covered with easily falling scales, the dorsal fin is located in the middle part of the back, there is no lateral line, there is a large notch on the tail, the lower jaw protrudes forward. The meat is tender and quite fatty. The fat content in herring meat varies greatly throughout the year: by the end of summer, the fish “fats up” fat, which makes up from 20 to 30% of its body weight, and by spring, at the time of spawning, its content drops to 4%. The bulk of the herring caught is salted.

Herring is best classified as follows:

Atlantic – fat content 6 – 25%, main groups: Murmansk, Norwegian, North Sea, Icelandic, etc.;

Pacific - fat content 5 - 33%, depending on the place of fishing they distinguish between Kamchatka, Sakhalin, Okhotsk, Primorsky;

Belomorskaya – fat content 4 – 13%;

Azov-Black Sea - fat content 7 - 34%, depending on the place of fishing they distinguish between Danube, Kerch, Don, etc.;

Caspian - fat content 2 - 19%, these include blackback, Volga, paunch, etc.

Herring – fat content 3 – 12%. Salak (Baltic herring) is a sea schooling fish. Length up to 16 cm, weight up to 25 g. Body elongated, with one dorsal fin. Lives in the eastern part of the Baltic Sea. It goes on sale chilled, frozen, in the form of canned herring “Herring in oil”, spicy and smoked salted herring.

Sardine – fat content 6–8%. Sardine is a schooling fish of the sea. Length up to 35 cm. The back is bluish-green, the sides and belly are silvery. It lives in warm temperate and subtropical coastal waters of both hemispheres, except the east coast of North and South America. The most famous are sardines and sardinellas produced in the Atlantic Ocean. The meat is tender, juicy, but with a lot of small bones. Sardine is suitable for all types of culinary processing.

Sprat is a group of small herring fish. They are caught in the Caspian Sea (Caspian sprat and anchovy sprat). Sprat is also often called Baltic and Black Sea sprat, used for preparing canned food. Baltic sprat (sprat) – fat content up to 12%, Caspian sprat – fat content up to 6%.

Tulka are semi-anadromous, schooling small herring fish. Length up to 17 cm, weight 8–10 g. The body is elongated, the belly is slightly compressed laterally, the back and upper part of the head are gray-greenish and blue-green, the belly is silvery-white or golden yellow. They live in the desalinated part of the Black, Azov and Caspian seas. They go on sale in ice cream, salted, smoked, spicy-salted form, and also in the form of canned food. The meat is tender, juicy, less tasty than sprat, fat content is 4 - 18%. Various appetizers, first and second courses are prepared from frozen and salted sprat.

Hamsa (anchovy) is a small sea fish, fat content 8 – 29%. An important fishing target in the Azov and Black Seas. Weight from 3 to 20 g. The highest fat content is in the autumn. Anchovy is sold mainly in spicy salted form. When preparing anchovy, you should sort through and remove the heads and entrails.

Main and best view processing of herring is ambassador. Herrings are good as a snack product, especially fatty herring, lightly salted, smoked and pickled. Frozen and fresh herring are used for frying and preparing canned food.

According to salt content, salted herring is divided into: lightly salted (7–10%), medium salted (up to 14%) and strongly salted (more than 14%).

Spiced and pickled herring is divided into lightly salted (6–9% salt) and medium salted (9–12% salt). Home-style herring (8% salt) differs from other types of pickled herring in having a more delicate pulp consistency.

Smoked herring is distinguished by the smoking method: hot smoked (2–4% salt) and cold smoked (5–14% salt).

Canned herrings are divided into natural, snack and preserved. Natural herrings include herring in jelly, natural Atlantic herring, etc. They preserve to the maximum natural properties herring fish. Snack foods include herrings in tomato sauce and oil. Preserves are prepared from spiced, pickled and salted herring with the addition of special sauces and dressings (apple wine, vinegar, mustard, mayonnaise, etc.). Unlike natural, canned snack foods, preserves are not sterilized.

Kessler herring (Alosa kessleri) is a large anadromous fish of the Black Sea-Caspian basin, biologically replacing Atlantic-Mediterranean shad and American shad in these areas. They reach a length of 40-52 cm, have a slender body, with short pectoral fins, with a low head not compressed laterally. There are three subspecies of Kessler herring: the Black Sea-Azov herring, the Caspian blackback and the Volga herring. Black Sea-Azov herring or hare (A. […]

The round belly herring (Etrumeus teres) or urume (Japanese name urume-iashi, Australian - marei, American - round herring), is represented, like dussumieria, by only one species. Unlike Dussumieria, it is distributed not in tropical, but in subtropical waters, forming five main populations, previously considered as special subspecies: in the waters of Japan (E. micropus); in South Australia […]

Eastern herring (Clupea pallasi) or small-vertebrate herring is distributed from the White Sea to the east. It is common in the southeastern part of the Barents Sea, in the Czech Bay, in the Pechora Bay; much less numerous in the southern regions of the Kara Sea. Small populations are known off the coast of Siberia, confined to the pre-estuary spaces of rivers. In the Pacific Ocean, the number of eastern herring is very large. Herring is here […]

Hawkmoth herring (Alosa brashnikovi) have a very small number of gill rakers (18-47); the rakers are thick, rough and short. Their teeth are well developed. The body is low and slender. These are large and medium-sized fish, reaching a length of 50 cm; live and breed in the brackish waters of the Caspian Sea, not approaching the mouths of rivers. This species is divided into 8 subspecies, of which […]

Pacific herring (Сlupea harengus). The appearance of this species suggests that this is a pelagic fish that spends most of its life in motion. Herring is a typically schooling fish. She is born, lives and dies surrounded by her own kind. A single individual falls into a state of stress, stops feeding and quickly dies. The life of a herring is a sequential movement from places [...]

Herring - food of kings and poor people

History and geography of the product

For the first time, monastic chroniclers, the authors of the chronicles of old England, told the world about herring. The fish caught in the Atlantic did not claim to be a delicacy; when fried, it filled everything around with the smell of rancid fat, was bony and, moreover, bitter.

An ordinary fisherman managed to change his attitude towards simple, trash fish. In 1390 Willem Jacob Beikelson, returning from fishing, discovered that he would not be able to sell the herring he had caught. The market was crowded, and the catch could not wait. It was then that the fisherman’s ingenuity came to the rescue. He salted the entire catch, and the world learned the taste of the most delicate lightly salted Dutch herring.

Since then, throughout the country, fish were cut up immediately after catching, the gills were removed and they were placed in barrels, sprinkled with salt. After the death of the fisherman, who gave Holland one of the most important sources of income, a monument was erected in his homeland. But the Dutch themselves did not eat more herring. Until the mid-19th century, salted fish was traditionally considered raw and inedible. Therefore, before consumption, it was still fried, boiled and baked.
But Dutch herring has now become famous throughout the world. Residents of the country even joked that Amsterdam was built on herring ridges. And indeed, already in the 15th century, merchants brought fish to Novgorod, where the Russian people liked it in its salted form. Azov and Black Sea herring, fish from the Caspian Sea, Volga and Solovki, and later from Pacific Ocean.

At the same time, Solovetsky herring was served exclusively on the royal table. Astrakhan Hall - especially fatty herring was so large that it did not fit in the barrel, and its tail had to be broken.

And in the Azov region and Crimea, salting fish has been known since the 6th century BC, but is firmly forgotten. Archaeologists near Kerch discovered huge stone containers where local fish species, including herring, were salted. According to the observations of the ancient Greek historian and geographer Strabo, this method helped residents deliver their catch to the Greek metropolis.

The development of the vastness of the Far East gave Soviet citizens the opportunity to try Pacific herring, and even the legendary Secretary General of the CPSU Leonid Brezhnev was a fan of it.

An equally significant historical figure of his era, German Chancellor Bismarck, also spoke about his love for herring: “If herring were not so common, it would undoubtedly have become a delicacy.” If the Germans did not perpetuate respect for fish in any way, then the Finns have annually held International Congresses of everyone related to herring since the 18th century. On Baltic Herring Festival Not only representatives of fishing and food enterprises, but also true adherents of salted fish come to Helsinki.

Types and varieties

Herring is quite common in the world's oceans, so it can vary depending on where it was caught, size, fat content and method of preparation. "A book about delicious and healthy food"Back in 1953, she told housewives Soviet Union about the advantages and benefits of more than a dozen types of herring. Today, Atlantic and Pacific fish can be found more often on sale, while other types of herring are quite rare.

Herring can be supplied to the retail chain frozen, chilled, smoked or salted. More often, herring is salted in various ways, including simple, special and spicy salting, as well as pickling the fish.

Gourmets should remember that herring can be:
lightly salted and contain from 7 to 10% salt;
medium salted, with salt content from 10 to 14%;
strong salting, with a salt content of more than 14%.

Depending on the quality of the finished herring, products are divided into first and second grade fish.

Beneficial features

Herring is a decent source of protein, of which fish contains about 20%, as well as essential amino acids. By eating high-quality herring, we can assume that fish oil is included in the diet, since it is present in abundance. fatty acid Omega-3. They have a beneficial effect on the cardiovascular and skeletal systems, skin condition, brain development and overall body resistance.

If you want to taste really tasty and healthy fish, it is better to choose the most round-sided, well-fed carcass, where the fat content can reach up to 30%.

Herring contains vitamins D, A, PP and group B. Fish also contains essential microelements: iodine, calcium and potassium, magnesium, cobalt and sodium, as well as fluorine, zinc and selenium. Herring is rich in oleic acid, phosphorus, manganese, copper and iodine, of which the humble herring contains much more than beef.

Taste qualities

The better the living conditions of the herring, the more plump and tastier it is. However, the abundance of fat contributes to the rapid spoilage of fresh fish. Salt, reacting with the tissues of the carcass, activates the enzymes contained in the fish, which leads to a qualitative change in fats and proteins. During ripening, the aroma and taste of herring changes.

High-quality herring has dense, but not dry meat, a glossy silvery surface without traces of yellowness and a whitish, soapy film. All these defects can not only affect the taste of the fish, but also its quality. Dangerous molds and yeasts, microorganisms and bacteria can develop in breaks in the skin and on wrinkled fabrics.

The most valuable of all varieties of herring is the Caspian, Volga hall or “royal herring”, distinguished by its black back and tender, very fatty meat. Exceptionally fatty herring is caught in the North Sea, but the record holder is considered to be Pacific fish, containing up to 39% valuable fat. Azov-Black Sea herring is low-fat, so you can taste it only lightly salted in the immediate vicinity of its habitat. The famous Dutch or Icelandic herring, spawning in waters near Spain, Norway and the Netherlands, also tastes very good.

Use in cooking

Probably no other fish has been used to create as many dishes as herring. In Russia and many countries former USSR extremely popular "Herring under a fur coat". This dish was first served in the hungry post-revolutionary year of 1919. In order to keep up with the times and provide the public with an accessible snack, the merchant Bogomilov, who ran the tavern, came up with a salad from affordable herring and the simplest vegetables, calling the creation: “ Sh ovinism and U greedy B oikot and A nathema." As a result, the salad was to my taste, the revolutionary intensity subsided, the abbreviation was forgotten, but “Herring under a fur coat remained.”

In Holland, Germany and Finland, traditional salads with potatoes, herring fillets, meat and pickled cucumbers, carrots and boiled eggs are very popular. Product combinations may vary, instead boiled beef and pork, some dishes use smoked brisket or beef tongue.

Finns add their favorite herring to soups and pies. For Easter, they always serve Kalakukko, a closed pie made from rye flour, stuffed with small herring and lard. And, of course, casseroles, dumplings and national fish soup are prepared from herring.
In England, freshly caught herring is fried in vegetable oil, and when removed from the frying pan, it is immediately wrapped in paper to remove excess fat and the specific herring smell.

It is impossible to imagine without herring and the famous forshmak- pate made from lightly salted fish fillet, eggs, white bread, butter and onions. Forshmak originally appeared in Prussian cuisine, however, now it is beloved in many countries. Swedes and Germans prefer to eat this appetizer hot, while Jews, who have adopted the tradition and sincerely consider the dish a national dish, prefer to eat it cold.

Herring, as Bismarck said, cannot be called exquisite or rare. But fish has become so firmly established in the culinary traditions of many countries that it has become more valuable than many delicacies.

Herring fish have a laterally compressed or squamous body, usually silvery, with a dark blue or greenish back. There is one dorsal fin, usually in the middle part of the back, the pectoral fins are located at the lower edge of the body, the ventral fins are located in the middle third of the belly (sometimes absent), the caudal fin is notched. Very characteristic is the absence of pierced scales on the lateral line on the body, which occur only in the number 2-5 immediately behind the head. Along the midline of the belly, many have a keel of pointed scales. The teeth on the jaws are weak or missing. The swim bladder is connected by a canal to the stomach, and two processes extend from the anterior end of the bladder, penetrating into the ear capsules of the skull. There are upper and lower intermuscular bones. Herrings are schooling planktivorous fish; Most species are marine, some are migratory, and a few are freshwater. Widely distributed from the subantarctic to the Arctic, but the number of genera and species is high in the tropics, decreases in temperate waters, and single species are common in cold waters. For the most part, these are small and medium-sized fish, less than 35-45 cm, only a few anadromous herring can reach a length of 75 cm. In total, there are about 50 genera and 190 species of herring. This family provides about 20% of the world's fish catch, occupying the first place among fish families in terms of catch size, along with anchovies. In this large and important family, 6-7 subfamilies are distinguished, some of which are accepted by some scientists as special families. Round belly herring (Dussumierinae) subfamily Round belly herrings differ from other herrings in that their belly is rounded and there are no keel scales along its midline. The mouth is small and terminal. The jaws, palate and tongue are lined with small, numerous teeth. This group includes 7 genera with 10 species, distributed in the tropical and subtropical waters of the Pacific, Indian and western Atlantic oceans. Among round-bellied herrings, two groups of forms (genera) are distinguished: larger multivertebral (48-56 vertebrae) fish, reaching a length of 15-35 cm (Dussumieria, Etrumeus), and smaller few-vertebral (30-46 vertebrae) fish, 5-11 cm length (Spratelloides, Jenkinsia, Echirava, Sauvagella, Gilchristella).

Kibango herrings (Spatelloides) are small, the most numerous among round-bellied herrings, reaching only 10 cm in length. Throughout the coastal areas of vast expanses of tropical waters of the Indian and Pacific oceans (except only in the eastern part of the Pacific Ocean), these fish are attracted at night by the light of lamps from the ship in huge numbers. Kibinago herrings are included in summer time into small bays for spawning. Unlike dussumieria and ordinary round belly herring (urume), which spawn floating eggs, kibinago herrings lay peculiar bottom eggs that adhere to grains of sand, the yolk of which is equipped with a group of small fat droplets. Despite its small size, kibinago herring is eaten fresh, dried, and in the form of a tasty fish paste. They are also used as excellent live bait when fishing for skipjack tuna. Manhua (Jerrkinsia) is very close to the kibinago herring. Two or three species of manhua live off the Atlantic coasts of the islands and isthmus of Central America from the Bahamas, Florida and Mexico to Venezuela, as well as off Bermuda. It is even smaller, up to only 6.5 cm in length, but, like the kibinago, it has a silver stripe running along its sides from head to tail; it stays in coves with a sandy bottom and lays eggs that adhere to the same exact bottom. Manhua is specially caught in Cuba to attract skipjack tuna, and its shortage has an adverse effect on the tuna fishery. Species of the remaining genera of round-bellied herring are small herrings that live in bays and estuaries off the coast of East Africa, Madagascar and India. SPRAT-LIKE HERRINGS (Clupeinae) or Herring Subfamily This subfamily is the most important group of herring fishes, including northern sea herrings, sardines, sardinella, sprat, kiln and other genera. There are about 12 births in total. Sea herring (Clupea) inhabit the temperate waters of the northern hemisphere (boreal region) and the adjacent seas of the Arctic Ocean, and in the southern hemisphere they live off the coast of Chile. Sea herring are schooling planktivorous fish, usually up to 33-35 cm in length. The scales are cycloid, easily falling off. Keel scales are poorly developed. The sides and belly are silvery, the back is blue-green or green. They lay bottom-adherent eggs on the ground or algae. Most sea herring live near the coast, only a few races go beyond the shelf during the feeding period. Among sea herrings, there are those that make long-distance migrations with passive settlement of larvae and fry, return migrations of growing fish and feeding and spawning wanderings of adults, and those that form local herds confined to marginal seas; There are also lacustrine forms that live in semi-enclosed or completely isolated brackish water bodies.

Currently, there are three types of sea herring - Atlantic, or multivertebral, eastern, or few-vertebral, and Chilean herring. MANDUFIAS (Ramnogaster) - three species of herring of this genus live in the waters of Uruguay and Argentina. The body of Mandufia is laterally compressed, the belly is convex, with a jagged keel of scales equipped with spines, the mouth is small, upper; the pelvic fins are moved further forward than in herrings and sprats, their bases are located in front of the base of the dorsal fin. These are small fish, about 9-10 cm long, common in coastal waters, estuaries and rivers. Schools of mandufias are found in brackish waters and enter rivers along with schools of silversides; feed on small plankton crustaceans. SPRATS OR SPRATS (Sprattus) genus distributed in temperate and subtropical waters of Europe, South America, South Australia and New Zealand. Sprats are close to sea herrings of the genus Clupea. They differ from them by the stronger development of keel scales on the belly, forming a spiny keel from the throat to the anus; a less forward dorsal fin, starting further back than the bases of the ventral fins; a smaller number of rays in the ventral fin (usually 7-8), a smaller number of vertebrae (46-50), floating eggs and other characteristics. Sprats are smaller than sea herrings; they are no larger than 17-18 cm. They live up to 5-6 years, but their usual lifespan is 3-4 years.

Sprats southern hemisphere insufficiently studied. In the waters of Tierra del Fuego and the Falkland Islands, as well as in the extreme south of South America, lives the fire sprat (Sprattus fuegensis), found in large flocks and having a length of 14-17 cm. Close to it and possibly classified as the same species is the Tasmanian sprat (S. bassensis), schools of which are common in the deep bays and straits of Tasmania and South Australia in summer and autumn months. TULKA OR CASPIAN SPRAT (Clupeonella) genus contains 4 species of small herring fish that live in the Black, Azov and Caspian seas and their basins. The belly of kilkas is laterally compressed, equipped with 24-31 strong spiny scales along the entire length from the throat to the anus. Pelvic fins approximately under the anterior third of the dorsal fin. In the anal fin, the last two rays are elongated, like in sardines and sardinellas. The mouth is upper, toothless, small, the maxillary bone does not extend back further than the anterior edge of the eye. The eggs are floating, with a very large purple fat drop, with a large circular yolk space. Vertebrae 39-49. Tyulka are euryhaline and eurythermal fish that live both in brackish water, up to 13°/00, and in fresh water at temperatures from 0 to 24°C. Sardines are the names of three genera of marine herring fish: Sardina, Sardinops and Sardinella. These three genera are characterized by elongated, blade-shaped two posterior rays of the anal fin and the presence of two elongated scales - “wings” - at the base of the caudal fin. In addition, pilchard sardines and sardinops have radially diverging grooves on the gill cover. True sardines (pilchard and sardinops) are common in warm temperate and subtropical seas, sardinella - in tropical and partly subtropical waters. Sardines reach a length of 30-35 cm; in commercial catches they are usually 13-22 cm long.

All sardines are sea schooling fish that live in the upper layers of water; feed on plankton and spawn floating eggs. Sardine eggs have a large round-yolk space, and in the yolk there is a small drop of fat. Sardines are of great practical importance, replacing sea herring in warm waters. SARDINES SARDINOPS (Sardinops) genus reaches a length of 30 cm and a weight of 150 g and above. The body is thick, the belly is not compressed laterally. The back is blue-green, the sides and belly are silvery-white, along each side there is a row of dark spots, up to 15 in number. There are radially diverging grooves on the surface of the gill cover. The number of vertebrae ranges from 47 to 53. Sardinops are very similar to the real pilchard sardine. They differ from it in having shortened gill rakers at the corner of the first gill arch, a slightly larger mouth (the posterior edge of the upper jaw extends beyond the vertical of the middle of the eye) and the nature of the scales. In sardinops, all scales are the same, of medium size (50-57 transverse rows of scales), while in pilchards smaller scales are hidden under large scales. SARDINELLA (Sardinella) genus contains 16-18 species of sardines from tropical and partly subtropical waters.

Only one species (S. aurita) also enters moderately warm seas. Sardinellas differ from the pilchard sardine and sardinops by a smooth gill cover, the presence of two protrusions on the anterior edge of the shoulder girdle (under the edge of the gill cover), the absence in most species of dark spots on the side of the body, which are present only in S. Sirm, and in the form of a single spot ( not always) in S. aurita. Twelve species of this genus live in the waters of the Indian Ocean, and in the western Pacific Ocean, from East Africa and the Red Sea to Indonesia and Polynesia in the east, and from the Red Sea, India and Southern China to Southeast Africa, Indonesia and Northern Australia . Herrings and sardines are small, up to 15-20 cm in length, tropical herring fish with a laterally compressed silvery body and a scaly keel on the belly. They inhabit the coastal waters of the Indo-West Pacific biogeographic region and Central America. There are none on the eastern shores of the Atlantic Ocean. In structure, these fish are close to sardinella. On the anterior edge of the shoulder girdle, under the gill cover, they also have two rounded lobes protruding forward. The last two rays of the anal fin are slightly elongated, but do not form a protruding lobe. Their eggs, like those of sardines, are floating, with a large circular yolk space, with a small drop of fat in the yolk. Unlike sardines, they do not have elongated scales at the base of the caudal fin. Their body is laterally compressed and silvery; vertebrae 40-45. HERRINGS (genus Herclotsichthys, recently isolated from the genus Harengula) are distributed only within the Indo-West Pacific region: from Japan to Indonesia and Australia, off the coast of the Indian Ocean, off the islands of Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. There are 12-14 species of herring, of which 3-4 species live off the eastern and southeastern coasts of Asia, 4 species live in Northern Australia, 4 species are widespread in the Indian and Western Pacific Oceans, from the Red Sea and East Africa to Indonesia , Polynesia and Northern Australia. SARDINES (Harengula), as already mentioned, live only in the tropical waters of America.

There are three species in the Atlantic Ocean; they are very numerous off the coast of Central America, Antilles, Venezuela. Along the Pacific coast, from the California coast to the Gulf of Panama, one species is widespread - the arena (N. thrissina). Machuela (Opisthonema) gen. Representatives of this genus are distinguished by a strongly elongated posterior ray of the dorsal fin, sometimes reaching the base of the caudal fin. By this characteristic, the machuela resembles the snout herring (Dorosomatinae), but it has a semi-superior or terminal mouth, the snout is not blunted and there is no elongated axillary scale above the base of the pectoral fin. Machuela has 46-48 vertebrae. It is a purely American genus containing two species. Also, only in America, off the coast of Brazil, in the sea and in the rivers of Guiana and the Amazon, do unique spiny-nosed sardines (Rhinosardinia) live, with two spines on the snout and a spiny keel on the belly. NAKE-EYED HERRRING OR NOL-EYED HERRRING (Pellonulinae) A subfamily that contains 14 genera and over 20 species of tropical, mainly freshwater herring fishes of America (8 genera), the Indo-Malayan archipelago, partly India and Australia. Representatives of this subfamily do not have a fatty eyelid or it is barely developed, the belly is usually laterally compressed, and the mouth is small. Some species of Australian genera (Potamalosa, Hyperlophus) have a serrated keel made up of a series of scutes (scales) on the back between the back of the head and the dorsal fin. Most species in this group are small fish, less than 10 cm in length. Corica (Corica, 4 species), living in the waters of India, Indochina and the Indo-Malayan archipelago, are especially small. They are no larger than 3-5 cm, their anal fin is divided into two: the anterior one, consisting of 14-16 rays, and the posterior one, consisting of 2 rays, separated from the anterior one by a noticeable gap. BELLY HERRRINGS (Alosinae) Subfamily The subfamily contains the largest herring fish. Most species in this group are anadromous, some are brackish water, some are freshwater. This group of herring fish includes 4 genera with 21 species, living in moderately warm and to a lesser extent subtropical and tropical waters of the northern hemisphere.

Bellied herrings have a laterally compressed belly with a spinous scale-like keel along its medial line; they have a large mouth, the posterior end of the upper jaw extends beyond the vertical of the middle of the eye; There are fatty eyelids on the eyes. These include aloz, gilzi and gudusia. Aloses are common in moderately warm coastal marine, brackish and fresh waters of Eastern America and Europe; Gilsa and Gudusia live off the coast and partly in the fresh waters of East Africa, South and Southeast Asia. The subfamily of belly herrings also usually includes a special group of herring fishes close to the American menhaden (Brevoortia). Apparently, it is more correct to separate them into special group or a subfamily of comb-scaled herring, including American menhaden, nacheta and West African bonga. The Alosa genus is important in this group. Species of this genus are characterized by a strongly laterally compressed body with a pointed, serrated ventral keel; two elongated scales - “wings” - at the base of the upper and lower lobes of the caudal fin; radial grooves on the roof bone; a noticeable medial notch in the upper jaw, as well as highly developed fatty eyelids on the eyes. On each side of the body there is usually a dark spot behind the upper edge of the operculum, which in some species is often followed by a row of several spots; sometimes, in addition, under this row there is a second and occasionally a third of a smaller number of spots. Differences in the shape and number of gill rakers, which correspond to differences in the nature of food, are very characteristic of different species and forms of aloz. Few short and thick gill rakers are characteristic of predatory herrings, numerous thin and long ones are characteristic of planktivorous herrings. The number of gill rakers on the first arch in aloz varies from 18 to 180. The number of vertebrae is 43-59. Aloses are common in the coastal, moderately warm waters of the Atlantic Ocean basin in the northern hemisphere, as well as in the Mediterranean, Black and Caspian seas.

There are 14 species in this genus, grouped into two subgenera: 10 species of the main form of the genus Alosa and 4 species of Pomolobus. In true aloz, the height of the cheek is greater than its length, in pomolobs it is equal to or less than its length. Two species of true alose live in the waters of the eastern coast of North America (Alosa sapidissima, A. ohioensis), two - off the western coast of Europe, North Africa and in the Mediterranean Sea (A. alosa, A. fallax), two species - in the basins of the Black and Caspian Seas (A. caspia, A. kessleri), four species - only in the Caspian Sea (A. brashnikovi, A. saposhnikovi, A sphaerocephala, A. curensis). All four species of mothfish (Alosa (Pomolobus) aestivalis, A. (P.) pseudoharengus, A. (P.) mediocris, A. (P.) chrysochloris) live in American waters. Many species of alosas fall into a greater or lesser number of forms - subspecies, races, etc. According to the biology of reproduction, four groups of species and forms of the genus alosa are distinguishable: anadromous, semi-anadromous, brackish-water and freshwater. Anadromous live in the sea, and for spawning they rise to the upper and middle reaches of rivers (anadromous anadromous); semi-anadromous eggs lay eggs in the lower reaches of rivers and in adjacent pre-estuarine, slightly saline areas of the sea; Brackish water fish live and spawn in brackish sea water. Some Atlantic-Mediterranean anadromous species also form local lake forms (subspecies), permanently living in fresh water. In the waters of America, Western Europe, the Mediterranean and Black Sea-Azov basins live anadromous and semi-anadromous species, as well as their freshwater forms; in the Caspian basin - anadromous, semi-anadromous and brackish-water species. Unlike the Atlantic-Mediterranean alozes, the Black Sea-Azov and Caspian alozes do not form lacustrine freshwater forms; Moreover, among the alozes of the Black Sea-Azov basin there are three anadromous and one semi-anadromous species, and in the Caspian Sea - one anadromous (2 forms), one semi-anadromous (4 forms) and four brackish-water species. In Black Sea and Caspian aloz, the eggs ripen and are laid out in three portions, with intervals between layings of 1-1.5 weeks. The number of eggs in each portion usually ranges from 30 to 80 thousand. The eggs of species of the genus Alosa are semi-pelagic, floating on the current or bottom, partly weakly sticking (in the American threshing fish and the Caspian ilmen belly). The shell of semi-pelagic eggs is thin; in bottom eggs, it is more dense and impregnated with adhered particles of silt. Like sardine eggs, aloz eggs have a large or medium yolk space, but unlike sardines, as a rule, they do not contain a fat drop in the yolk. The size of the eggs varies among different species: from 1.06 in the big-eyed shad to 4.15 mm in the Volga herring. Polomolobs (genus Alosa, genus Pomolobus) live only in the Atlantic waters of North America. Two species - grayback or elewife (A. pseudoharengus) and blueback (A. aestivalis) - multi-stamened (38-51 rakers on the lower half of the first gill arch), predominantly planktivorous, distributed in more northern areas, from the Gulf of St. Lawrence and Nova Scotia to Cape Hatterasai of North Florida. They reach a length of 38 cm, have a dark blue or gray-green back and silvery sides with a dark spot on both sides behind the top of the operculum (the “shoulder patch”). These are anadromous anadromous fish that stay in schools in the sea near the coast and rise low into rivers to spawn. Spawning in rivers, mainly in April - May. The caviar is bottom, with a small circular yolk space, the shell is weakly adhering, impregnated with particles of silt. Being schooling, these species are of significant commercial importance and, although their numbers have decreased over the last half century, they are still quite numerous. They were also the object of artificial breeding: fish close to spawning were planted in tributaries devastated by excessive fishing, which resulted in spawning and the resumption of fish in these tributaries. Greyback was unintentionally successfully introduced along with juvenile shad into Lake Ontario, where it became established, reproduced, and spread from there to other lakes. Two more southern, also close to each other, species of millet - hickory (A. te-diocris) and greenback (A. chrysochloris) - reach more large sizes: greenback 45 and hickory - 60 cm. Hickory is distributed from the Bay of Fundy, mainly from Cape Cod, to North Florida, greenback - in rivers flowing into the northern part Gulf of Mexico, west of Florida.

These species have fewer gill rakers (18-24 on the lower half of the first gill arch) and feed mainly on small fish. Hickory has a row of dark spots on each side of its flanks. Hickory lives in the sea near the coast, entering estuaries and lower rivers in schools to spawn from late April to early June. Lays eggs in the fresh water of rivers in the tidal zone. The caviar is sinking, weakly sticking, but easily swept up by the current; the eggs have a medium-sized circular yolk space; several small fat drops are visible in the yolk. The greenback lives in fast upper tributaries of rivers and descends into brackish water and into the sea. Its spawning and migrations have not been sufficiently studied. HILSA (Hilsa) The genus replaces aloz in tropical waters. Species of this genus are common in coastal sea ​​waters and in the rivers of East Africa, South and Southeast Asia, from Natal to Busan (South Korea). There are 5 species in this genus, which are migratory fish that enter rivers from the sea to spawn. The sleeves are close to alozes in the shape of a laterally compressed body; scaly keel on the belly; fatty eyelids covering the eye in the anterior and posterior thirds; lack of teeth (also poorly developed in many aloz); by the silvery color of the body and the presence in some species of a dark “shoulder” spot on both sides on the side behind the upper edge of the gill cover (juveniles of some species also have a number of dark spots on the side, like a belly). Unlike aloz, sleeves do not have elongated tail scales - “wings” - at the base of the caudal fin; The eggs of the hilsa are semi-pelagic, having a large circular yolk space and floating in the current, like in aloz; unlike aloz eggs, they contain several fat drops in the yolk; The shell of the eggs is single, like the aloz, or double. There are 5 types of sleeves.

GUDUSIA - freshwater fish, very close to anadromous shells. Gudusia are very similar to gilz, but are easily distinguished by their smaller scales (80-100 transverse rows instead of 40-50 for gilz). Gudusia live in the rivers and lakes of Pakistan, Northern India (north of the Kistna River, approximately 16-17° N), and Burma. Gudusia are small fish, up to 14-17 cm in length. There are two known species of this genus - Indian Gudusia (Gudusia chapra) and Burmese Gudusia (G. variegata). COMBEN-SCALED HERRINGS (Brevoortiinae) Subfamily Distinguished from all other herrings by having a comb-like posterior margin and two rows of enlarged scales or scutes along the midline of the back, from the back of the head to the beginning of the dorsal fin. They are also characterized by the presence of 7 rays in the ventral fins. They are close to bellied herrings in the shape of a laterally compressed tall body, with a serrated scale keel along the belly, in the presence of a medial notch in the upper jaw, and in the absence of teeth on the jaws of adults. The structure of menhaden eggs differs from alose, but is close to sardines: their eggs contain a fat drop in the yolk and are pelagic, not hemipelagic. Unlike bellied herrings, comb-scaled herrings are marine fish that live and breed in the sea at a salinity of at least 20°/00. There are three genera of combed herring: menhaden, the closely related machete, and bonga. MENHADEN (Brevoortia) genus is distributed in the coastal waters of the Atlantic coast of America, from Nova Scotia to the Gulf of Mexico and from southern Brazil to Argentina. Menhaden reach a length of 50 cm, the usual length is 30-35 cm. The back is green-blue, the sides are silvery-yellowish, behind the top of the gill cover on both sides of the body there is a black shoulder spot, behind which in some species there is a varying number of smaller dark spots on the sides, often located in two, three or several rows. The pelvic fins of menhaden are small, located under the dorsal fin, and have 7 rays. There are 7 species of menhaden: 3 - off the east coast of North America, from Nova Scotia to Florida, 2 - in the northern Gulf of Mexico, 2 - off the coast of Brazil, from the Rio Grande to the Rio de la Plata. Blunt-nosed or goiter herrings (Dorosomatinae) Subfamily Blunt-nosed or goatee herrings, having a short, high, laterally compressed body, with an abdominal serrated keel of scales, represent a unique group. Unlike all other herrings, their snout is almost always protruding, bluntly rounded; the mouth is small, lower or semi-inferior; the stomach is short, muscular, reminiscent of a bird's crop. The anal fin is quite long, from 18-20 to 28 rays; the pelvic fins are located under the dorsal fins or closer to the dorsal fins towards the anterior end of the body, they have 8 rays. Almost all species have a dark “shoulder” spot on the side, behind the top of the operculum; many, in addition, have 6-8 narrow dark longitudinal stripes along the sides. In most genera and species, the last (posterior) ray of the dorsal fin is extended into a long thread; only in species of two genera (Anodontostoma, Gonialosa) is it not elongated. These are mud-eating and phytoplankton-eating fish of bays, estuaries, rivers of tropical and partly subtropical latitudes, not of great nutritional value due to their bonyness. However, in many areas they are prepared for food, mainly in dried form and in the form of canned food. In total, this group contains 7 genera with 20-22 species. Blunt-nosed herring (or blunt-nosed herring) are common in the waters of North and Central America (genus Dorosoma, 5 species), South and Southeast Asia and Western Oceania (Melanesia) (genera Nematalosa, Anodontostoma, Gonialosa, 7 species in total), East Asia (genera Coposirus, Clupanodon, Nematalosa, 3 species), Australia (genus Nematalosa, 1 species, and Fluvialosa, 7 species). The more northern species - the Japanese konosir and the American dorosoma - have 48-51 vertebrae, the rest - 40-46. American Dorosoma (Dorosoma) reaches a length of 52 cm, the usual size is 25-36 cm. Southern Dorosoma (D. petenense) lives from the river. Ohio (approximately 38-39°N) to Florida and the Gulf of Mexico and along the coast south to Honduras. Mexican (D. anale) - in the Atlantic basin of Mexico and Northern Guatemala; Nicaraguan dorosoma (D. chavesi) - in the lakes of Managua and Nicaragua; Western dorosoma (D. smith) lives only in the rivers of Northwestern Mexico. Another species of blunt-nosed herring is found in the Yellow Sea - the Japanese nematalosa (Nematalosa japonica). The remaining species of the genus Nematalosa live off the Indian Ocean coasts of South Asia, from Arabia (N. arabica) to Malaya, and in the Pacific Ocean - off the coasts of Indonesia, Vietnam, the Philippines and Taiwan (N. nasus), as well as in the northwestern coast of Australia (N. come). Nemathaloses live mainly in bays, lagoons and estuaries, and enter rivers.

In the rivers of India and Burma, there live two more species of a special freshwater genus of herring, Gonialosa; These are small fish, up to 10-13 cm in length. Freshwater herring are particularly abundant in Australia. There are up to six species of them here, sometimes separated into a special genus, Fluvialosa. They are common in the rivers and lakes of Australia; some species are small, up to 13-15 cm, others reach a fairly large size, up to 39 cm in length. A seventh species of freshwater fluvialose is found in the upper tributaries of the Strickland River in New Guinea. As mentioned above, along with these freshwater species of snout, there is also one marine coastal species of nematalosa in the waters of Northern Australia (Nematalosa come). Keel-necked or Saw-bellied herrings (Pristigasterinae) Subfamily This group of purely tropical genera of herring fishes is characterized by a strongly laterally compressed body, pointed along the ventral edge, with a saw-toothed “abdominal keel of scales extending forward to the throat. Almost everyone has an upper or semi-upper mouth. Their anal fin is long, containing more than 30 rays; pelvic fins are small (in Pellona and Ilisha) or absent (in other genera). This group includes 8 genera with 37 species. In appearance, different genera of saw-bellied herring represent different stages of specialization. The least specialized and somewhat reminiscent in appearance of aloz or gilz are the already mentioned fish of the genera Pellona and Ilisha.

They have pelvic and dorsal fins, the body is high or of medium height, the anal fin contains from 33 to 52 rays and usually begins behind the middle of the body. Pellona is widely distributed along the coasts of the Indian Ocean, reaching as far south as any other saw-bellied herring: in the west to Natal off Southeast Africa, in the east to the Gulf of Carpentaria and Queensland (Australia). It is numerous off the eastern coast of India. The genus Ilisha contains about 60% of the total number of saw-bellied herring species - 23 species. 14 species of ilish live off the coasts of India, Indochina and Indonesia, of which 4 are distributed further north, along Southeast Asia up to the South China Sea; further north, in the East China Sea, two species are found, and in the Yellow and Japanese Seas there is one. Of the remaining 5 genera of saw-bellied herring, three genera are American, found either only off the Pacific coast of Central America (genus Pliosteostoma), or represented by one species in Pacific waters and one or two species in Atlantic waters (genera Odontognathus, Neoopisthopterus). One genus (Opisthopterus) is represented by three species off the Pacific coast of the Isthmus of Panama and Ecuador and two species in the Indian Ocean and the southwestern Pacific Ocean, off the coasts of India, Indochina and Indonesia.