1.valuable flesh of fatty fish from shallow waters of northern Atlantic or Pacific; usually salted or pickled
2.(ellipsis)commercially important food fish of northern waters of both Atlantic and Pacific
HerringHer"ring (hĕr"rĭng), n. [OE. hering, AS. hæring; akin to D. haring, G. häring, hering, OHG. haring, hering, and prob. to AS. here army, and so called because they commonly move in large numbers. Cf. Harry.] (Zoöl.) One of various species of fishes of the genus Clupea, and allied genera, esp. the common round or English herring (Clupea harengus) of the North Atlantic. Herrings move in vast schools, coming in spring to the shores of Europe and America, where they are salted and smoked in great quantities.
Herring gull (Zoöl.), a large gull which feeds in part upon herrings; esp., Larus argentatus in America, and Larus cachinnans in England. See Gull. -- Herring hog (Zoöl.), the common porpoise. -- King of the herrings. (Zoöl.) (a) The chimæra (Chimaera monstrosa) which follows the schools of herring. Called also rabbit fish in the U. K. See Chimæra. (b) The opah.
definition of Wikipedia
Atlantic herring • Baltic herring • Herring bodies • Pacific herring • atlantic herring • green herring • herring fry • herring gull • herring hog • herring salad • king of the herring • kippered herring • lake herring • new herring • pickled herring • red herring • red herring prospectus • red-herring prospectus • salt herring • salted herring • smoked herring
Aggie Herring • Albert Herring • Alfred Cecil Herring • American Herring Gull • Annie Herring • Art Herring • Atlantic herring • Atlantic thread herring • Aubrey Herring • Augustus Moore Herring • Australian herring • Baltic herring • Ben Herring • Bill Herring • Bill Herring (minor league pitcher) • Blueback herring • Bryan Whitfield Herring Farm • Caroline Herring • Chaldon Herring • Charniele Herring • Clyde Herring • Clyde L. Herring • Clyde LaVerne Herring • Conyers Herring • Corey Herring • Dennis Herring • Denticle herring • Dressed Herring • E. Pendleton Herring • East Siberian Herring Gull • Edmund Herring • Eli Herring • English herring • Estuarine Round-herring • European Herring Gull • Fuld-Gilad-Herring Academy of Competitive Intelligence • Great Herring Pond • HMS Herring (1804) • Hal Herring • Hank Herring • Heads Up with Richard Herring • Heath Herring • Herbert J. Herring • Herring (surname) • Herring Bay • Herring Buss • Herring Coe • Herring Cove Provincial Park • Herring Cove, Nova Scotia • Herring Gull • Herring House • Herring Island • Herring Island (Victoria) • Herring Island (disambiguation) • Herring Neck • Herring Neck, Newfoundland and Labrador • Herring Queen Festival • Herring Run • Herring bodies • Herring bones • Herring market • Herring scad • Herring smelt • Herring soup • Herring v. United States • Herring-Cole Hall, St. Lawrence University • Herring-Curtiss Company • Herring-bones • Hilsa herring • Horace Edgar Herring • Ian Herring • James Red Herring • James V. Herring • Jimmy Herring • Joanne Herring • John Frederick Herring, Jr. • John Frederick Herring, Sr. • Kim Herring • Kipper Herring • Langton Herring • Lee and Herring • Lee and Herring (radio series) • Little Herring Pond • Louise McCarren Herring • Lynn Herring • Marc Herring • Mark Herring • Mark Herring (disambiguation) • Mark Herring (swimmer) • Mary Herring • Matchett Herring Coe • Mr. Monk and the Red Herring • Oliver Herring • Operation Herring • Pacific herring • Percy Theodore Herring • Red Herring (magazine) • Red Herring Artists • Red Herring Surf • Red Herring magazine • Red herring • Red herring (idiom) • Red herring prospectus • Reggie Herring • Richard Herring • Rob Herring • Robert Herring • Robert Herring (aviator) • Robert Herring (businessman) • Robert Herring (poet) • Robert Herring Wright • Rufus G. Herring • Sarah Herring Sorin • Shmaltz herring • Soused herring • Sydney Herring • The Herring-Bone (solitaire) • The Red Herring • Thomas Herring • Toothed river herring • Two-finned round herring • USS Herring (SS-233) • Venezuelan herring • Vincent Herring • Will Herring • William Perry Herring McFaddin • Wolf herring • Ze'ev Herring
poisson courant (fr)[ClasseParExt.]
Sous-Ordre des Clupéoïdés (fr)[ClasseTaxo.]
Clupeidae, family Clupeidae[membre]
herring (n.) [ellipsis]
poisson de mer courant (fr)[ClasseParExt.]
atlantic herring; Clupea harangus[ClasseHyper.]
Clupea, genus Clupea[membre]
Herring are forage fish, mostly belonging to the family Clupeidae. They often move in large schools around fishing banks and near the coast. The most abundant and commercially important species belong to the genus Clupea, found particularly in shallow, temperate waters of the North Pacific and the North Atlantic oceans, including the Baltic Sea, as well as off the west coast of South America. Three species of Clupea are recognized, and provide about 90% of all herrings captured in fisheries. Most abundant of all is the Atlantic herring, providing over half of all herring capture.
Herring played a pivotal role in the history of marine fisheries in Europe, and early in the twentieth century their study was fundamental to evolution of fisheries science. These oily fish also have a long history as an important food fish, and are often salted, smoked, or pickled.
A number of different species, most belonging to the family Clupeidae, are commonly referred to as herrings. The origins of the term herring is somewhat unclear, though it may derive from the Old High German heri meaning a "host, multitude", in reference to the large schools they form.
The type genus of the herring family Clupeidae is Clupea. Clupea contains three species: the Atlantic herring (the type species) found in the north Atlantic, the Pacific herring found in the north Pacific, and the Araucanian herring found off the coast of Chile. Subspecific divisions have been suggested for both the Atlantic and Pacific herrings, but their biological basis remain unclear.
|This article is
one of a series on
|cod, eel, flatfish
|Herrings in the genus Clupea|
|Common name||Scientific name||Maximum
|Araucanian herring||Clupea bentincki Norman, 1936||28.4 cm||cm||kg||years||2.69||||||||Not assessed|
|Atlantic herring||Clupea harengus Linnaeus, 1758||45.0 cm||30.0 cm||1.05 kg||22 years||3.23||||||||Least concern|
|Pacific herring||Clupea pallasii Valenciennes, 1847||46.0 cm||25.0 cm||19 years||3.15||||||||Not assessed|
In addition, a number of related species, all in the family Clupeidae, are commonly referred to as herrings. The table immediately below includes those members of the Clupeidae family referred to by FishBase as herrings which have been assessed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
|Other herrings in the family Clupeidae|
|Group||Common name||Scientific name||Maximum
|Freshwater herrings||Toothed river herring||Clupeoides papuensis (Ramsay & Ogilby, 1886)||cm||cm||kg||years||||||Data deficient|
|Round herrings||Day's round herring||Dayella malabarica (Day, 1873)||cm||cm||kg||years||||||Least concern|
|Dwarf round herring||Jenkinsia lamprotaenia (Gosse, 1851)||cm||cm||kg||years||||||Least concern|
|Gilchrist's round herring||Gilchristella aestuaria (Gilchrist, 1913||cm||cm||kg||years||||||Least concern|
|Little-eye round herring||Jenkinsia majua Whitehead, 1963||cm||cm||kg||years||||||Least concern|
|Red-eye round herring||Etrumeus teres (De Kay, 1842)||33 cm||25 cm||kg||years||||||||Not assessed|
|Two-finned round herring||Spratellomorpha bianalis (Bertin, 1940)||4.5 cm||cm||kg||years||3.11||||||Data deficient|
|Whitehead's round herring||Etrumeus whiteheadi (Wongratana, 1983)||20 cm||cm||kg||years||3.4||||||||Least concern|
|Venezuelan herring||Jenkinsia parvula Cervigón and Velasquez, 1978||cm||cm||kg||years||||||Vulnerable|
|Thread herrings||Galapagos thread herring||Opisthonema berlangai (Günther, 1867)||26 cm||18 cm||kg||years||3.27||||||Vulnerable|
|Middling thread herring||Opisthonema medirastre Berry & Barrett, 1963||cm||cm||kg||years||||||Least concern|
|Pacific thread herring||Opisthonema libertate (Günther, 1867)||30 cm||22 cm||kg||years||||||||Least concern|
|Slender thread herring||Opisthonema bulleri (Regan, 1904)||cm||cm||kg||years||||||Least concern|
|Other||Blackstripe herring||Lile nigrofasciata Castro-Aguirre Ruiz-Campos and Balart, 2002||cm||cm||kg||years||||||Least concern|
|Denticle herring||Denticeps clupeoides Clausen, 1959||cm||cm||kg||years||||||Vulnerable|
|Dogtooth herring||Chirocentrodon bleekerianus (Poey, 1867)||cm||cm||kg||years||||||Least concern|
|Graceful herring||Lile gracilis Castro-Aguirre and Vivero, 1990||cm||cm||kg||years||||||Least concern|
|Pacific Flatiron herring||Harengula thrissina (Jordan and Gilbert, 1882)||cm||cm||kg||years||||||Least concern|
|Sanaga pygmy herring||Thrattidion noctivagus Roberts, 1972||cm||cm||kg||years||||||Least concern|
|Silver-stripe round herring||Spratelloides gracilis (Temminck & Schlegel, 1846)||10.5 cm||cm||kg||years||3.0||||||Not assessed|
|Striped herring||Lile stolifera (Jordan & Gilbert, 1882)||cm||cm||kg||years||||||Least concern|
|West African pygmy herring||Sierrathrissa leonensis Thys van den Audenaerde, 1969||cm||cm||kg||years||||||Least concern|
There are also a number of other species called herrings, which may be related to clupeids or just share some characteristics of herrings (such as the lake herring, which is a salmonid). Just which of these species are called herrings can vary with locality, so what might be called a herring in one locality might be called something else in another locality. Some examples:
|Other fishes called herring|
|Common name||Scientific name||Maximum
|Longfin herring||Bigeyed longfin herring||Opisthopterus macrops (Günther, 1867)||cm||cm||kg||years||||||Least concern|
|Dove's longfin herring||Opisthopterus dovii (Günther 1868)||cm||cm||kg||years||||||Least concern|
|Hatchet herring||Ilisha fuerthii (Steindachner, 1875)||cm||cm||kg||years||||||Least concern|
|Panama longfin herring||Odontognathus panamensis (Steindachner, 1876)||cm||cm||kg||years||||||Least concern|
|Tropical longfin herring||Neoopisthopterus tropicus (Hildebrand 1946)||cm||cm||kg||years||||||Least concern|
|Vaqueira longfin herring||Opisthopterus effulgens (Regan 1903)||cm||cm||kg||years||||||Vulnerable|
|Equatorial longfin herring||Opisthopterus equatorialis Hildebrand, 1946||cm||cm||kg||years||||||Least concern|
|Wolf herring||Dorab wolf-herring||Chirocentrus dorab (Forsskål, 1775)||100 cm||60 cm||kg||years||4.50||||||||Not assessed|
|Whitefin wolf-herring||Chirocentrus nudus Swainson, 1839||100 cm||cm||0.41 kg||years||4.19||||||Not assessed|
|Freshwater whitefish||Lake herring (cisco)||Coregonus artedi Lesueur, 1818||cm||cm||kg||years||||||Not assessed|
The species of Clupea belong to the larger family Clupeidae (herrings, shads, sardines, menhadens), which comprise some 200 species that share similar features. These silvery-colored fish have a single dorsal fin, which is soft, without spines. They have no lateral line and have a protruding lower jaw. Their size varies between subspecies: the Baltic herring (Clupea harengus membras) is small, 14 to 18 centimeters; the proper Atlantic herring (C. h. harengus) can grow to about 46 cm (18 inches) and weigh up 700 g (1.5 pounds); and Pacific herring grow to about 38 cm (15 inches).
At least one stock of Atlantic herring spawns in every month of the year. Each spawns at a different time and place (spring, summer, autumn and winter herrings). Greenland populations spawn in 0–5 metres (0–16 ft). North Sea (bank) herrings spawn at up to 200 metres (660 ft) in autumn. Eggs are laid on the sea bed, on rock, stones, gravel, sand or beds of algae. "...the fish were darting rapidly about, and those who have opportunity to see the fish spawning in more shallow water ... state that both males and females are in constant motion, rubbing against one another and upon the bottom, apparently by pressure aiding in the discharge of the eggs and milt" (Moore at Cross Island, Maine).
Females may deposit from 20,000 up to 40,000 eggs, according to age and size, averaging about 30,000. In sexually mature herrings, the genital organs grow before spawning, reaching about one-fifth of its total weight.
If the egg layers are too thick they suffer from oxygen depletion and often die, entangled in a maze of fucus. They need substantial water microturbulence, generally provided by wave action or coastal currents. Survival is highest in crevices and behind solid structures, because predators feast on openly disposed eggs. The individual eggs are 1 to 1.4 millimetres (0.039 to 0.055 in) in diameter, depending on the size of the parent fish and also on the local race. Incubation time is about 40 days at 3 °C (37 °F), 15 days at 7 °C (45 °F), 11 days at 10 °C (50 °F). Eggs die at temperatures above 19 °C (66 °F).
The larvae are 5 to 6 millimetres (0.20 to 0.24 in) long at hatching, with a small yolk sac that is absorbed by the time the larva reaches 10 millimetres (0.39 in) is reached. Only the eyes are well pigmented (a camera works only with a black housing). The rest of the body nearly transparent, virtually invisible under water and natural luminance conditions.
The dorsal fin forms at 15 to 17 millimetres (0.59 to 0.67 in), the anal fin at about 30 millimetres (1.2 in)—the ventral fins are visible and the tail becomes well forked at 30 to 35 millimetres (1.4 in)—at about 40 millimetres (1.6 in) the larva begins to look like a herring.
The larvae are very slender and can easily be distinguished from all other young fish of their range by the location of the vent, which lies close to the base of the tail. But distinguishing clupeoids one from another in their early stages, requires critical examination, especially telling herring from sprats.
At one year they are about 10 centimetres (3.9 in) long, first spawning at 3 years.
Herrings are a prominent converter of zooplankton into fish, consuming copepods, arrow worms, pelagic amphipods, mysids and krill in the pelagic zone. Conversely, they are a central prey item or forage fish for higher trophic levels. The reasons for this success is still enigmatic; one speculation attributes their dominance to the huge, extremely fast cruising schools they inhabit.
Young herring feed on phytoplankton and as they mature they start to consume larger organisms. Adult herring feed on zooplankton, tiny animals that are found in oceanic surface waters, and small fish and fish larvae. Copepods and other tiny crustaceans are the most common zooplankton eaten by herring. During daylight herring stay in the safety of deep water, feeding at the surface only at night when there is less chance of being seen by predators. They swim along with their mouths open, filtering the plankton from the water as it passes through their gills. Young herring mostly hunt copepods individually, by means of "particulate feeding" or "raptorial feeding", a feeding method also used by adult herring on larger prey items like krill. If prey concentrations reach very high levels, as in microlayers, at fronts or directly below the surface, herring become filter feeders, driving several meters forward with wide open mouth and far expanded opercula, then closing and cleaning the gill rakers for a few milliseconds.
Copepods, the primary zooplankton, are a major item on the forage fish menu. Copepods are typically one millimetre (0.04 in) to two millimetres (0.08 in) long, with a teardrop shaped body. Some scientists say they form the largest animal biomass on the planet. Copepods are very alert and evasive. They have large antennae (see photo below left). When they spread their antennae they can sense the pressure wave from an approaching fish and jump with great speed over a few centimeters. If copepod concentrations reach high levels, schooling herrings adopt a method called ram feeding. In the photo below, herring ram feed on a school of copepods. They swim with their mouth wide open and their opercula fully expanded.
The fish swim in a grid where the distance between them is the same as the jump length of their prey, as indicated in the animation above right. In the animation, juvenile herring hunt the copepods in this synchronised way. The copepods sense with their antennae the pressure-wave of an approaching herring and react with a fast escape jump. The length of the jump is fairly constant. The fish align themselves in a grid with this characteristic jump length. A copepod can dart about 80 times before it tires. After a jump, it takes it 60 milliseconds to spread its antennae again, and this time delay becomes its undoing, as the almost endless stream of herrings allows a herring to eventually snap the copepod. A single juvenile herring could never catch a large copepod.
Other pelagic prey eaten by herrings includes fish eggs, larval snails, diatoms by larvae below 20 millimetres (0.79 in), tintinnids by larvae below 45 millimetres (1.8 in), molluscan larvae, menhaden larvae, krill, mysids, smaller fishes, pteropods, annelids, Calanus, Centropagidae and Meganyctiphanes norvegica.
Herrings, along with cod and sprat, are the most important species[clarification needed] in the Baltic Sea. The analysis of the stomach contents of these fish indicate cod is the top predator, preying on the herring and sprat. Sprat are competitive with herrings for the same food resources. This is evident in the two species' vertical migration in the Baltic Sea, where they compete for the limited zooplankton that is available and necessary for their survival. Sprat are highly selective in their diet and eat only zooplankton, while herrings are more eclectic, adjusting their diet as they grow in size. In the Baltic, copepods of the genus Acartia can be present in large numbers. However, they are small in size with a high escape response, so herring and sprat avoid trying to catch them. These copepods also tend to dwell more in surface waters, whereas herrings and sprat, especially during the day, tend to dwell in deeper waters.
Predators of herring include seabirds, marine mammals such as dolphins, porpoises, orca, whales, seals and sea lions, predator fish such as sharks, billfish, tuna, salmon, striped bass, cod and halibut, and fishermen.
The predators often operate cooperatively in groups, using different techniques to panic or herd a school of herrings into a tight bait ball. Different predators species then use different techniques to pick the fish off in the bait ball. The sailfish raises its sail to make it appear much larger. Swordfish charge at high speed through the bait balls, slashing with their swords to kill or stun prey. They then turn and return to consume their "catch". Thresher sharks use their long tails to stun the shoaling fish. These sharks compact their prey school by swimming around them and splashing the water with their tails, often in pairs or small groups. They then strike them sharply with the upper lobe of their tails to stun them. Spinner sharks charge vertically through the school, spinning on their axis with their mouths open and snapping all around. The shark's momentum at the end of these spiraling runs often carries it into the air.
Some whales lunge feed on bait balls. Lunge feeding is an extreme feeding method, where the whale accelerates from below the bait ball to a high velocity and then opens its mouth to a large gape angle. This generates the water pressure required to expand its mouth and engulf and filter a huge amount of water and fish. Lunge feeding by the huge rorqual whales is said to be the largest biomechanical event on Earth.
Adult herring are harvested for their flesh and eggs, and they are often used as baitfish. The trade in herring is an important sector of many national economies. In Europe the fish has been called the "silver of the sea", and its trade has been so significant to many countries that it has been regarded as the most commercially important fishery in history.
|Detailed time series|
Water pollution influences the amount of herring that may be safely consumed. For example, large Baltic herring slightly exceeds recommended limits with respect to PCB and dioxin, although some sources point out that cancer-reducing effect of omega-3 fatty acids is statistically stronger than the cancer-causing effect of PCBs and dioxins. The contaminant levels depend on the age of the fish which can be inferred from their size. Baltic herrings larger than 17 cm may be eaten twice a month, while herrings smaller than 17 cm can be eaten freely. Mercury in fish also influences the amount of fish that women who are pregnant or planning to be pregnant within the next one or two years may safely eat.
|Wikibooks Cookbook has a recipe/module on|
Dictionary and translator for handheld
New : sensagent is now available on your handheld
A windows (pop-into) of information (full-content of Sensagent) triggered by double-clicking any word on your webpage. Give contextual explanation and translation from your sites !
With a SensagentBox, visitors to your site can access reliable information on over 5 million pages provided by Sensagent.com. Choose the design that fits your site.
Improve your site content
Add new content to your site from Sensagent by XML.
Crawl products or adds
Get XML access to reach the best products.
Index images and define metadata
Get XML access to fix the meaning of your metadata.
Please, email us to describe your idea.
Lettris is a curious tetris-clone game where all the bricks have the same square shape but different content. Each square carries a letter. To make squares disappear and save space for other squares you have to assemble English words (left, right, up, down) from the falling squares.
Boggle gives you 3 minutes to find as many words (3 letters or more) as you can in a grid of 16 letters. You can also try the grid of 16 letters. Letters must be adjacent and longer words score better. See if you can get into the grid Hall of Fame !
Change the target language to find translations.
Tips: browse the semantic fields (see From ideas to words) in two languages to learn more.