GASPEREAU
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION
Body is slender, head is relatively small, teeth are
small on both jaws. Color is greyish-green
above, silvery on
the sides and belly.
COMMON NAMES
Alewife, Gaspereau, Sawbelly, River herring.
BREEDING AND FEEDING HABITS
Females produce between 48,000 to 360,000 eggs, depending
on the size of the female; the larger they are,
the more they produce.
Hatching takes in 3 to 5 days and newborns are
between 2 to 5mm.
Spawning usually takes place in April and June,
temperate water of
8 to 12 degrees Celsius. When spawning,
Gaspereau enter fresh waters.
Some spawning areas are in southwest Margaree,
Bay of Fundy and
Miramichi River.
Feeding: Diet primarily consists of
amphipods, copepods, and the eggs
of small fish.
HABITAT
Gaspereau prefer water temperatures below 25
degrees Celsius and
are found in depths of less than 100m. They can
be found in both sea
water and fresh waters because of their breeding
habits. They are located
along the continental shelf of Nova Scotia.
GROWTH
Gaspereau mature at ages 3 and 4. Females and
males grow different
lengths at different ages; a female at age 3
will be a length of 25cm,
a male at age 3 will be a length of 23cm. Each
year, the Gaspereau
grow 1.0cm or 1.5cm. The oldest fish reported
was between the age of 10 and 13.