Gulf Menhaden

Credit: Illustration by Diane Rome Peebles

Family Clupeidae

Other local names: shad, pogies

Description: to 18" oval, deep and compressed; blue or green, sometimes bluish-brown above; sides and belly silvery, fins yellowish; distinct humeral spot often followed by several rows of smaller spots; head very large, exposed margin of scales almost vertical, fringed

Where found: near surface schools primarily in estuaries and nearshore waters of the northern Gulf from early spring through fall

Size: three-year-olds are 8 inches long and weigh more than 6 ounces

Remarks: sexual maturity begins at late age (1) with major spawning areas offshore across the northern Gulf