Alosa kessleri, also referred to as the Caspian anadromous shad, the blackback, or the black-spined herring, is a species of alosid fish. It is one of the several species of shad endemic to the Caspian Sea basin.[1]

Alosa kessleri
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Clupeiformes
Family: Alosidae
Genus: Alosa
Species:
A. kessleri
Binomial name
Alosa kessleri
(Grimm, 1887)

This is an anadromous species which ascends from the Caspian to the Volga river up to the Volgograd to spawn. Before the construction of the Volgograd dam it migrated up to the Kama and Oka tributaries. Few fish enter the Terek and Ural Rivers.[1]

While the migration upstream is broken, it seems the fish have found new breeding grounds south of the dam, and the population is now abundant.[2] The species may be threatened by commercial and illegal fishing in the Caspian Sea and at the mouth of the Volga during the migration, though.[2]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.). "Alosa kessleri". FishBase. Feb 2015 version.
  2. ^ a b Freyhof J, Kottelat M (2008) Alosa kessleri The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species v 2014.3