Herring Fish: Description, Types, Pictures, & Fun Facts

Herring Fish: All You Need To Know

The Herring is a carnivorous fish that belongs to the Animalia family, phylum Chordata, class Actinopterygii, order Clupeiformes, and family Clupeidae. Its genus is Clupea.

The herring ranges in size from up to 4.1 to 23.6 inches in length, and weighs up to 0.90 to 2.3 pounds, with a lifetime of up to 8-22 years depending on species and location. Herring are saltwater fish that eat zooplankton and phytoplankton.

Herring are preyed upon by seabirds, marine mammals, predatory fish, and fishermen. The huge schools are a distinguishing characteristic. Physical characteristics include a silver colour, with scales on the skin. It has the top speed of -3 mph.

Herring, often known as silver darlings or silver of the sea, are forage fish. Herring fish are pelagic, which means they reside in open water beyond the low tide line.

The majority of the population lives in the cold, shallow waters of the North Pacific and North Atlantic Oceans. They are a key food source as baitfish and also for human use in a variety of recipes, including fermented, pickled, smoked, and dried foods. Overfishing has put certain species at risk.

Five Incredible Herring Fish Facts!

1. 90% of herring caught in fisheries comes from Araucanian, Atlantic, and Pacific species.

2. The Atlantic herring accounts for more than half of all herring caught.

3. In the North Atlantic Ocean, a school of up to 3 billion fish may occupy up to 4.8 cubic kilometres, with fish densities ranging from 0.5 to 1.0 fish per cubic metre.

4. Herrings may travel at speeds of up to ten times their body length every second.

5. Herring fish have a very good sense of hearing.

Herring Fish Classification and Scientific Name

This fish is defined as a tiny forage fish that generally refers to the Clupeidae family. But there are several genera in the Clupeidae family. Clupea is the type genus. Wolf herrings, for instance, belong to the Chirocentrus genus and family Chirocentridae, albeit the term “wolf herring” might apply to both of the two subspecies. The Atlantic, Pacific, and Araucanian herring are indeed the three species of the Clupea genus.

Various Herring Fish Species

The Clupeidae family has 200 species. The following are some prominent species:

Araucanian (Clupea bentincki)
The Pacific (Clupea pallasii)
The Atlantic (Clupea harengus)
Baltic Sea (Clupea harengus membras)
The Dorab wolf-herring (Chirocentrus dorab) and the Whitefin wolf-herring (Chirocentrus nudus) are two subspecies of wolf.
Blueback herring (Alosa aestivalis) and Alewife herring (Alosa pseudoharengus) are two subspecies of river herring.

Herring Fish Appearance

Herring fish have a bluish or greenish back and are dazzling silver in colour. Clupeidae species have a soft, single, spineless dorsal fin, a short head, a projecting lower jaw, and no lateral line, whereas Chirocentridae species have ray fins. The length and weight of these creatures varies depending on the species.

Herring Fish Distribution, Population, and Habitat

Atlantic species may be found on both sides of the Atlantic, Pacific species can be found in the North Pacific, and Arauceanian species can be found off the coast of Chile.

Several species are marine, whereas others, like the blueback and alewife subspecies of river herrings, are anadromous. The toothed river herring, also known as the Papuan river sprat (Clupeoides papuensis), is a freshwater fish.

Herring Fish Predators and Prey

In terms of food, these species are classified as tiny forage fish or filter-feeding fish. They eat a variety of tiny creatures, including zooplankton and phytoplankton. They compensate for their diminutive stature by establishing large groups, and their exceptional hearing allows them to respond swiftly to predators.

Copepods, arrow worms, krill, mysids, pteropods, annelids, and pelagic amphipods are all eaten by these fish. Other small crustaceans and worms, as well as smaller fish, diatoms, tintinnids, fish larvae, larval snails, molluscan larvae, and menhaden larvae, are eaten.

Seabirds that rely on this fish include Western grebes, common murres, Atlantic puffins, razorbills, common terns, and Arctic terns. Dolphins, porpoises, whales, seals, and sea lions consume them, while sharks, especially thresher sharks and spinner sharks, swordfish, sailfish, and other billfish, tuna, salmon, striped bass, cod, and halibut, are predatory fish which ingest them.

Clupea species are the most commonly caught by fishermen. Fish populations vary due to fishing and reproduction, which results in the replacement of older fish with younger fish.

According to Opisthopterus, Blueback (Alosa aestivalis), Venezuelan (Jenkinsia parvula), Galapagos thread herring (Opisthonema berlangai), Denticle (Denticeps clupeoides), Cuban longfin herring (Neoopisthopterus cubanus), and Vaquera longfin herring (Neoopisthopterus cubanus) are among the species withOverfishing is a common hazard to them.

Herring Fish Reproduction and Lifespan

Spawning is the only way for these fish to reproduce. Although at least one Atlantic species spawns every month of the year, they only spawn once a year after attaining sexual maturity at 3 or 4 years of age.

Some species, such as the blueback and alewife, are anadromous, meaning they live in saline water but move to fresh water to reproduce. The season and location of the fish’s spawning are determined by the species.

In Greenland, for example, they spawn in 0-5m (0-16ft) of water, but in the North Sea, they spawn at depths of up to 200m (660ft) in the fall. Females deposit their eggs on the seabed, on rocks, stones, gravel, sand, or in algae beds, with the best chances of survival in cracks and behind strong structures to evade predators.

Regardless of age and size, they may lay anything between 20,000 and 40,000 eggs, but on average, approximately 30,000. Due to their mucous covering, the eggs sink, settle, and attach together as well as to any silt or debris.

They require constant microturbulence from wave action or coastal currents to ensure that the mucus layers do not become too thick, depleting their oxygen and killing them.

Their incubation period is 40 days at 3 degrees Celsius (37 degrees Fahrenheit), 15 days at 7 degrees Celsius (45 degrees Fahrenheit), or 11 days at 10 degrees Celsius (50 degrees Fahrenheit). Temperatures of over 19 °C (66 °F) cause them to perish. Individual eggs have a diameter of 1-1.4mm (3/64-1/16in).

Herring Fish in Fishing and Cooking

The other 10% of fish collected in fisheries include Pacific thread herring, red-eye round herring, and whitehead’s round herring, none of which belong to the Clupea genus. Nevertheless, all creatures, even the tiniest ones, are vital.

Baitfish is one of its primary applications. Fish oil, that is used as a nutritional supplement, and fishmeal, that is used as farm animal feed, are additional useful by-products.

However, their primary function is as a food source, with a flavour that may be described as mild, greasy, and flaky at its most basic level. Raw, salted, fermented, dried, pickled, or smoked eggs are the most popular preparations, with the eggs serving as a caviar alternative. The Baltic nations and the British Isles are the most popular places to consume them.

• Herring that has been fermented The Swedish surströmming, which has been around since the 16th century, is the most well-known form of fermented herring. It’s made from Baltic fish that has been mildly salted and fermented for six months before being canned. A freshly opened can is supposed to have one of the most revolting odours on the planet.

• In the Phillippines, dried herring, garlic rice, and eggs are traditional breakfast staples. Salted dried herring is the name given to the fish after it has been dried with salt.

• Pickled herrings can be found in German, Scandinavian, Dutch, Polish, Baltic, and Jewish cuisines. Curing with salt is followed by removing the salt and adding additional spices or flavourings in a two-step procedure.

• Kippers are red herring that have been kippered. They turn red because they’ve been smoked, which is a curing technique done on the fish during the spawning season when they’re not as tasty. Kipper snacks are canned kippered fish that are popular in the British Isles and Scandinavia.