Alosidae

The Alosidae, or the shads, are a family of clupeiform fishes. The family currently comprises four genera worldwide, and about 32 species.
The shads are pelagic schooling fish, of which many are anadromous or even landlocked. Several species are of commercial importance, e.g. in the genus Alosa, Brevoortia, and Sardina. The Alosidae were previously included in the herring family Clupeidae.

Genera

Alosidae contains the following 4 genera:

Alosa H. F. Linck, 1790
Brevoortia Gill, 1861
Sardina Antipa, 1904
Sardinops C. L. Hubbs, 1929

The following fossil Alosidae are also known:

†Eoalosa Marramà & Carnevale, 2017
†Moldavichthys Baykina & Schwarzhans, 2017
?†Pugliaclupea Taverne, 2004
†Sanalosa Bienkowska-Wasiluk, Granica & Kovalchuk, 2024

The oldest member of the group is Pugliaclupea from the Campanian of Italy, but its placement in the Alosidae appears to be on weak grounds. Otherwise, all other members of the family are only known from the Eocene onwards. There appears to have been a significant center of endemism for the alosids and other clupeoids in the Paratethys. The freshwater †Chasmoclupea from the Oligocene of Egypt may also be related to the Alosidae.