The hickory shad Alosa mediocris , fall herring , mattowacca , [ 3 ] [ 4 ] [ a ] freshwater taylor or bonejack [ 5 ] is a member of the family Alosidae , ranging along the East Coast of the United States from Florida to the Gulf of Maine. It is an anadromous fish species , meaning that it spawns in freshwater portions of rivers, but spends most of its life at sea.
It is subject to fishing, both historic and current, but it is often confused with or simply grouped together with American shad A. Hickory shad are elongate, laterally compressed fish with a tapering cross section. Hickory shad range from northern Florida to the Gulf of Maine.
The largest populations occur in Chesapeake Bay and coastal North Carolina. Adults enter estuaries and freshwater tributaries from the St. Their oceanic movements are poorly documented. Spawning occurs from December to June, earliest in Florida and later with increasing latitude. After water hardening, the eggs become semibuoyant and develop as they drift along the bottom. Hickory shad live to seven years.
Hickory shad are piscivorous , feeding primarily on small fishes, although crustaceans and squid contribute to their diet. Hickory shad have a relatively low commercial value, but an increasingly popular recreational fishery exists throughout the mid-Atlantic states. By the late s and early s, hickory shad articles appeared in sport-fishing magazines. Headlines such as "the tough fighting hickory shad swarm near the rock-studded fall line…" [ 18 ] and "feast on Rappahannock River hickory shad action" [ 19 ] brought attention to the fishery.
In the two most recent years of a North Carolina creel survey — , hickory shad — a fish only present for two months of the year — moved from sixth- to the fourth-most targeted fish by coastal anglers. Most information about this species is contained in federal and state documents and management plans or theses from universities. Fish and Wildlife Service published a useful series that includes egg, larvae, and juvenile development descriptions of hickory shad.
