Alosa Alosa Alosa is a genus of fish, the river herrings, in the family Clupeidae. Along with other genera in the subfamily Alosinae, they are generally known as shads. They are distinct from other herrings by having a deeper body and spawning in rivers. Several species can be found on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea. Also, several taxa occur in the brackish-water Caspian Sea and the Black Sea basin. Many are found in fresh water during spawning and some are only found in landlocked fresh water. These fishes lived from the Eocene to Quaternary (from 55 million
West African pygmy herring West African pygmy herring The West African pygmy herring ("Sierrathrissa leonensis") is a very small fish, reaching a maximum length of SL, is a member of the herring family Clupeidae, and belongs to a radiation of the subfamily Pellonulinae in the freshwater systems of western and central Africa that includes such species as the "Microthrissa royauxi" of the Congo River basin and "Limnothrissa miodon" of Lake Tanganyika. It is the only species of its genus. A very small fish which shows a reduction in size and some neoteny when compared to its larger relatives. The West African pygmy herring is