Clupea pallasii, Pacific herring : fisheries, gamefish, bait

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Clupea pallasii Valenciennes, 1847

Pacific herring
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Image of Clupea pallasii (Pacific herring)
Clupea pallasii
Picture by Fritzsche, R.A./J.W. Cavanagh

Common names from other countries

Hareng du Pacifique, Arenque del Pacífico, Сельдь восточная, ... more

Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Teleostei (teleosts) > Clupeiformes (Herrings) > Clupeidae (Herrings, shads, sardines, menhadens)
Etymology: Clupea: Latin, clupea = sardine, derived from Clupeus = shield; doubtless a reference to the scales covering the body of the fish + Greek, odous = teeth (Ref. 45335); pallasii: Named after Petrus Simon Pallas, great Russian naturalist and explorer (Ref. 6885).
Eponymy: Peter Simon Pallas (1741–1811) was a German-born Russian (1767) explorer, zoologist and one of greatest 18th century naturalists. [...] (Ref. 128868), visit book page.
More on author: Valenciennes.

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Marine; freshwater; brackish; pelagic-neritic; non-migratory; depth range 0 - 475 m (Ref. 58426). Temperate; 77°N - 33°N, 34°E - 119°W (Ref. 54336)

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Point map | Introductions | Faunafri

Arctic: White Sea eastward to Ob inlet. Western Pacific: Anadyr Bay, eastern coasts of Kamchatka, possibly the Aleutian Islands southward to Japan and west coast of Korea. Eastern Pacific: Kent Peninsula at 107°W and Beaufort Sea southward to northern Baja California, Mexico.

Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm 21.4  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 46.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 27436); common length : 25.0 cm SL male/unsexed; (Ref. 188); max. reported age: 19 years (Ref. 27547)

Short description Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 0; Dorsal soft rays (total): 13 - 21; Anal spines: 0; Anal soft rays: 12 - 23; Vertebrae: 46 - 58. Without prominent keel; no median notch in upper jaw. Gill cover without radiating bony striae. No distinctive dark spots on body or fins. Overlaps C. harengus in White Sea, but distinguished by fewer vertebrae (usually 52 to 55; cf. usually 55 to 57) and fewer post-pelvic scutes (10 to 14; cf. 12 to 16). Dark blue to olivaceous above, shading to silver below (Ref. 27547). Precaudal vertebrae: 29-31-32; caudal vertebrae: 19-22-22 (Ref. 265).
Body shape (shape guide): fusiform / normal; Cross section: compressed.

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Neritic species (Ref. 11230). A coastal and schooling species (Ref. 188). Landlocked populations exist. Mature adults migrate inshore, entering estuaries to breed. During the summer of their first year, young form schools in shallow bays, inlets and channels that appear at the surface; these schools disappear in the fall and remain in deep water for the next 2-3 years (Ref. 6885, 27547). Young feed mainly on crustaceans, but also take decapod and mollusk larvae; adults prey mainly on large crustaceans and small fishes (Ref. 6885, 27547). Because it does not undertake extensive coastal migrations, the mixing of local populations is relatively rare (Ref. 27547). In the eastern Pacific, the fish is mainly caught for roe markets in Asia (Ref. 9988). There is a fishery for eggs laid on kelp, which when salted, is called kazunoko-kombu, and is considered a delicacy in Japan (Ref. 27547). Used in Chinese medicine (Ref. 12166). Utilized fresh, dried or salted, smoked, canned, and frozen; eaten pan-fried, broiled, and baked (Ref. 9988). Possibly to 475 m depth (Ref. 6793).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae

Oviparous (Ref. 265). A female turns to her side, deposits her eggs on the bottom and resumes an upright posture. This procedure is repeated until all eggs have been laid, which may take several days (Ref. 11548). As eggs are being deposited, males are releasing milt, fertilizing the eggs (Ref. 27547). There is no observable pairing of the sexes; the whole spawning area is white with milt (Ref. 11558).

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator | Collaborators

Whitehead, P.J.P., 1985. FAO Species Catalogue. Vol. 7. Clupeoid fishes of the world (suborder Clupeoidei). An annotated and illustrated catalogue of the herrings, sardines, pilchards, sprats, shads, anchovies and wolf-herrings. FAO Fish. Synop. 125(7/1):1-303. Rome: FAO. (Ref. 188)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435: Version 2025-1)

  Data deficient (DD) ; Date assessed: 21 February 2019

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Harmless





Human uses

Fisheries: highly commercial; gamefish: yes; bait: usually
FAO - Fisheries: landings, species profile; Publication: search | FishSource | Sea Around Us

More information

Trophic ecology
Food items (preys)
Diet composition
Food consumption
Food rations
Predators
Ecology
Ecology
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Population dynamics
Growth parameters
Max. ages / sizes
Length-weight rel.
Length-length rel.
Length-frequencies
Mass conversion
Recruitment
Abundance
Life cycle
Reproduction
Maturity
Maturity/Gills rel.
Fecundity
Spawning
Spawning aggregations
Eggs
Egg development
Larvae
Larval dynamics
Distribution
Countries
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Introductions
BRUVS - Videos
Anatomy
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Otolith
Physiology
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Nutrients
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Visual pigments
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Toxicity (LC50s)
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Genetics
Heterozygosity
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Human related
Aquaculture systems
Aquaculture profiles
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Stamps, coins, misc.
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Taxonomy
Common names
Synonyms
Morphology
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References
References

Tools

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Special reports

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Summary page | Point data | Common names | Photos

Internet sources

AFORO (otoliths) | Aquatic Commons | BHL | Cloffa | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes: genus, species | DiscoverLife | ECOTOX | FAO - Fisheries: landings, species profile; Publication: search | Faunafri | Fishipedia | Fishtrace | GloBI | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | OceanAdapt | OneZoom | Open Tree of Life | Otolith Atlas of Taiwan Fishes | PubMed | Reef Life Survey | Socotra Atlas | TreeBase | Tree of Life | Wikipedia: Go, Search | World Records Freshwater Fishing | Zoobank | Zoological Record

Estimates based on models

Preferred temperature (Ref. 123201): 0.2 - 9.7, mean 2.8 °C (based on 966 cells).
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804):  PD50 = 0.6250   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00603 (0.00485 - 0.00749), b=3.13 (3.07 - 3.19), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this species (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level (Ref. 69278):  3.2   ±0.2 se; based on diet studies.
Generation time: 4.2 (2.3 - 5.9) years. Estimated as median ln(3)/K based on 13 growth studies.
Resilience (Ref. 120179):  Medium, minimum population doubling time 1.4 - 4.4 years (Musick et al. 2000 (Ref. 36717)).
Prior r = 0.74, 95% CL = 0.49 - 1.11, Based on 4 full stock assessments.
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  Moderate to high vulnerability (49 of 100). 🛈
Climate Vulnerability (Ref. 125649):  Low vulnerability (22 of 100). 🛈
Price category (Ref. 80766):   Low.
Nutrients (Ref. 124155):  Calcium = 113 [31, 265] mg/100g; Iron = 0.652 [0.379, 1.109] mg/100g; Protein = 18.4 [16.4, 20.3] %; Omega3 = 1 [1, 2] g/100g; Selenium = 16 [5, 49] μg/100g; VitaminA = 15.1 [3.4, 67.2] μg/100g; Zinc = 1.18 [0.62, 2.02] mg/100g (wet weight); based on nutrient studies.