Iowa Fish Atlas

Native: Yes

State Rank: SH 

ITIS Code: 161705          

National Rank:  N3

Global Rank: G3

Modeled By: Anna Loan-Wilsey

State Range:

The Alabama shad has not been collected in Iowa since 1927 and is now thought to be absent from the state (Harlan and Speaker, 1969). Prior to 1900 the Alabama shad was thought common enough in the Mississippi River system to support a limited commercial fishery (Coker 1929; Everman 1902) but has declined in abundance since (Pflieger 1971), most likely because it is unable to cope with impoundments (Etnier and Starnes 1993).

Habitat Affinities:

As an anadromous species the Alabama shad spends most of its adult life in the sea, but spawns in riverine systems. Adults do not feed while in fresh water and spawning generally occurs in large, permanent streams, with moderate currents and sand and gravel substrates (Etnier and Starnes 1993; Pflieger 1997; Robison and Buchanan 1988). In Missouri it occurs in swift water around rock wing dikes or over rocky shoals. (Pflieger 1997). The Alabama shad was widespread throughout Tennessee in pre-impoundment days (Hildebrand 1963) but is now on Tennessee’s list of rare vertebrates (Etnier and Starnes 1993). It is continuing to decline in Pearl River system of Louisiana and Alabama (Gunning and Suttkus 1990). Trautman (1957) and Clay (1975) report the Alabama shad as rare in Ohio and Kentucky respectively.

Predictive Model(s):

Mississippi River Model:

The distribution is based upon existing collection records and professional review.

("pool" = 'S20')

Overall Prediction

("pool" = 'S20')

Literature Cited:

Clay, W.M.  1975.  The fishes of Kentucky.  Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources, Frankfort, Kentucky.  416 pp.

Coker, R.E. 1929.  Studies of common fishes of the Mississippi River at Keokuk. Bulletin of the U.S. Bureau of Fisheries 45:141-225.

Etnier, D.A., and W.E. Starnes.  1993.  The fishes of Tennessee.  University of Tennessee Press, Knoxville, Tennessee.  681 pp.

Evermann, B.W.  1902.  Description of a new species of shad (Alosa ohioensis) with notes on other food-fishes of the Ohio River. Report of the U.S. Fisheries Commission (1901):273-288.

Gunning, G.E., and R.D. Suttkus. 1990.  Decline of the Alabama shad, Alosa alabamae, in the Pearl River, Louisiana-Mississippi: 1963-1988. Proceedings of the Southeast Fishes Council 21:3-4.

Harlan, J.R., and E.B. Speaker. 1969.  Iowa fish and fishing. Iowa Conservation Commission, Des Moines, Iowa. 365pp.

Hildebrand, S.F.  1963.  Family Clupeidae.  Pages 308-312 in H.B. Bigelow and W.C. Shroeder, editors. Memoir 1, Fishes of the western North Atlantic. Part 3. Sears Foundation for Marine Research, New Haven, Connecticut.

Pflieger, W.L.  1971.  A distributional study of Missouri fishes.  University of Kansas Publications, Museum of Natural History  20(3):225-570.

Pflieger, W.L.  1997.  The fishes of Missouri.  Missouri Department of Conservation, Jefferson City, Missouri.  372 pp.

Robison, H.W., and T.M. Buchanan. 1988.  Fishes of Arkansas.  University of Arkansas Press, Fayetteville, Arkansas.  536 pp.

Trautman, M.B.  1957.  The fishes of Ohio.  Ohio State University Press in collaboration with the Ohio Division of Wildlife and the Ohio State University Development Fund, Columbus, Ohio.  683 pp.

Data Sources:

Coker, R. E. 1929. Keokuk dam and the fisheries of the upper Mississippi River.  Bulletin of the U.S. Bureau of Fish. 45: 87-140.

Coker, R. E. 1929. Studies of common fishes of the Mississippi River at Keokuk. Bulletin of the U.S. Bureau of Fish. 45:141-225.

Additional References:

Barkuloo, J.M.  1993.  Systematic and population status of Alabama shad in rivers tributary to the Gulf of Mexico. Panama City, Florida, 1993.

Beckett, D.C., and C.H. Pennington. 1986.  Water quality, macroinvertebrates, larval fishes, and fishes of the lower Mississippi River-a synthesis. Technical Report E-86-12, U.S. Army Engineer Waterways Experiment Station, Vicksburg, Mississippi.

Berry, F.H.  1964.  Review of: S. F. Hildebrand, family Clupeidae, in the fishes of the Western North Atlantic. Copeia 1964:720-730.

Buchanan, T. M.  1976.  An evaluation of the effects of dredging within the Arkansas River navigation system. Volume 5. The effects upon the fish fauna.  Arkansas Water Resources Research Center Publ. No. 47. 277 pp.

Carter, F.A. 1984.   Fishes collected from the Mississippi River and adjacent flood areas in Arkansas, river mile 770.0 to river mile 816.0.  Master’s thesis, Arkansas State University, Jonesboro, Arkansas. 42 pp.

Cross, F.B., and J.T. Collins.  1975.  Fishes in Kansas.  University of Kansas  Publications,  Public Education Series No. 3, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas.   189 pp.

Douglas, N.H.  1974.  Freshwater fishes of Louisiana.  Claitor’s Publishing Division, Sponsored by Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Commission, Baton Rouge, Louisiana.  443 pp.

Gelwicks, G.T.  1995.  Fish movement between the lower Missouri River and a managed floodplain wetland in Missouri.  Master’s thesis. University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri. 190 pp.

Kelly, G., editor.  1986.  Animal habitat relations handbook.  Missouri Department of Conservation and U.S.D.A. Forest Service, Jefferson City, Missouri.  293 pp.

Laurence, G. C.,  and R. W. Yerger.  1966.  Life history studies of the Alabama shad, Alosa alabamae, in the Apalachicola River, Florida.   Proceedings of the 20th Annual S.E. Association of Game and Fish Commissions.   pp. 260-273.

Lee, D. S., C. R. Gilbert, C. H. Hocutt, R. E. Jenkins, D. E. McAllister, and J. R. Stauffer, Jr.  1980.  Atlas of North American freshwater fishes.  North Carolina State Museum of Natural History, Raleigh, North Carolina.  867 pp.

Mettee, M.F., P.E. O'Neil, and J.M. Pierson.  1996.  Fishes of Alabama and the Mobile Basin.  Oxmoor House, Birmingham, Alabama.  820 pp.

Mettee, M.F., P.E. O'Neil, and T.E. Shepard.  1995.  Status survey of gulf sturgeon Acipenser oxyrinchus desotoi and Alabama shad, Alosa alabamae, in the Choctawhatchee, Conecuh, and Alabama river systems, 1992-95. Geological Survey of Alabama open-file report. 30 pp.

Mills, J.G.  1972.  Biology of the Alabama shad in northwest Florida.  State of Florida Department of Natural Resources, Technical Series No. 68. 24 pp.

Moore, G.A.  1957.  Fishes.  Pages 31-210 in W.F. Blair et al., editors.  Vertebrates of the United States.   McGraw-Hill Book Company, New York.

Page, L.M., and B.M. Burr.  1991.  A field guide to freshwater fishes: North America north of Mexico.  Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, Massachusetts. 432 pp.

Pennington, C.H., J.A. Baker, and M.E. Potter. 1983.  Fish populations along natural and revetted banks on the lower Mississippi River.  North American Journal of Fisheries Management 3(2):204-211.

Pennington, C.H., H.L. Schramm, Jr., M.E. Potter, and M.P. Farrell.  1980.  Aquatic habitat studies on the lower Mississippi River, river mile 480 to 530.  Report 5, Fish Studies-pilot report. Environmental and Water Quality Operational Studies.  Misc. Paper E-80-1. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Vicksburg, Mississippi.  45 pp.

Robins, C.R., R.M. Bailey, C.E. Bond, J.R. Brooker, E.A. Lachner, R.N. Lea, and W.B. Scott.  1991.  Common and scientific names of fishes from the United States and Canada.  American Fisheries Society, Special Publication 20, Bethesda, Maryland. 183 pp.

Rulifson, R.A., and M.T. Huish. 1982.  Anadromous fish in the southeastern United States and recommendations for development of a management plan.  Atlanta, Georgia.

Sanders, L.G., J.A. Baker, C.L. Bond, and C.H. Pennington.  1985.  Biota of selected aquatic habitats of the McClellan-Kerr Arkansas River navigation system.  Technical Report E-85-6. U.S. Army Engineer Waterways Experiment Station, Vicksburg, Mississippi.

Smith, P.W.  1979.  The fishes of Illinois.  University of Illinois Press, Urbana, Illinois.  314 pp.

Photo Credits:

Upper left:        Photo courtesy of the NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service, http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/prot_res/species/fish/Alabama_shad.html

Upper right:      Photo courtesy of The Native Fish Conservancy, http://www.nativefish.org