Alosa kessleri (Grimm, 1887)
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Open encyclopedia reference
Alosa kessleri, also referred to as the Caspian anadromous shad, the blackback, or the black-spined herring, is a species of alosid 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 the 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 the dam, and the population is now abundant. The species may be threatened by commercial and illegal fishing in the Caspian Sea and at the mouth of the Volga during the migration, though.
Wikipedia contributors, Alosa kessleri; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T18:58:41.814683+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Alosa kessleri (Grimm, 1887)
- Name authority
- (Grimm, 1887)
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Teleostei
- Order
- Clupeiformes
- Family
- Alosidae
- Genus
- Alosa
- Extinction status
- Not supplied by this source
Source habitat flags: Marine: yes · Freshwater: yes · Terrestrial: no. These do not form a complete habitat description.
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- gigaclassActinopterygii
- superclassActinopteri
- classTeleostei
- orderClupeiformes
- suborderClupeoidei Bleeker, 1859
- familyAlosidae Svetovidov, 1952
- genusAlosa Linck, 1790
- speciesAlosa kessleri (Grimm, 1887)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Alosa. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Black Sea shadAlosa maeotica (Grimm, 1901) | AlosidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| blueback herringAlosa aestivalis (Mitchill, 1814) | AlosidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Alosa agone (Scopoli, 1786) | AlosidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| allis shadAlosa alosa (Linnaeus, 1758) | AlosidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Alosa braschnikowi (Borodin, 1904) | AlosidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Caspian shadAlosa caspia (Eichwald, 1838) | AlosidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| skipjack herringAlosa chrysochloris (Rafinesque, 1820) | AlosidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Alosa curensis (Suvorov, 1907) | AlosidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| shadAlosa fallax (Lacepède, 1803) | AlosidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| ale-wifeAlosa pseudoharengus (Wilson, 1811) | AlosidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Alosa sphaerocephala (Berg, 1913) | AlosidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Alosa suworowi (Berg, 1913) | AlosidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Caspialosa volgensis bergi Tanassiychuk, 1940 Tanassiychuk, 1940 | synonym |
| Caspialosa kessleri (Grimm, 1887) (Grimm, 1887) | ambiguous synonym |
| Clupea kessleri Grimm, 1887 Grimm, 1887 | synonym |
| Alosa pontica kessleri (Grimm, 1887) (Grimm, 1887) | synonym |
| Caspialosa caspia kessleri (Grimm, 1887) (Grimm, 1887) | synonym |
| Caspialosa kessleri bergi Tanassiychuk, 1940 Tanassiychuk, 1940 | synonym |
| Caspialosa kessleri kessleri (Grimm, 1887) (Grimm, 1887) | synonym |
| Caspialosa volgensis imitans Berg, 1948 Berg, 1948 | synonym |
| Clupeonella kessleri (Grimm, 1887) (Grimm, 1887) | synonym |
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=272252 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:5TWJV. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.