Alosa kessleri Alosa kessleri Alosa kessleri, also referred to as the Caspian anadromous shad, the blackback, or the black-spined herring, is a species of clupeid fish. It is one of the several species of shad endemic to the Caspian Sea basin. This is an anadromous species which ascends from the Caspian to the Volga river up to the Volgograd to spawn. Before the construction of th Volgograd dam it migrated up to the Kama and Oka tributaries. Few fish enter the Terek and Ural Rivers. While the migration upstream is broken, it seems the fish have found new breeding grounds south of
Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge have extensive vernal pool habitat that would benefit several Species of Concern. Coastal marshes, bays, tidal creeks, and rivers support diverse shellfish and finfish populations. Sunfish ("Lepomis" species), creek chub ("Semotilus atromaculatus"), cunner ("Tautogolabrus adspersus"), golden shiner ("Notemigonus crysoleucas"), common mummichog ("Fundulus heteroclitus"), American eel ("Anguilla rostrata"), and white sucker ("Catostomus commersoni") abound. Brook trout ("Salvelinus fontinalis") and brown trout ("Salmo trutta") are stocked in rivers and estuaries each year. The Ogunquit River sustains alewife ("Alosa pseudoharengus"), blueback herring ("Alosa aestivalis"), pollock ("Pollachius virens"), bluefish ("Pomatomus saltatrix"), longhorn sculpin ("Myoxocephalus octodecimspinosus"), and winter flounder ("Pleuronectes americanus"). The Webhannet River has