Atlantic menhaden
Brevoortia tyrannus (Latrobe, 1802)
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
The Atlantic menhaden (Brevoortia tyrannus) is a North American species of fish in the herring family, Alosidae.
This kind of menhaden are found in North Atlantic coastal and estuarine waters from Nova Scotia south to northern Florida. They are commonly found in all salinities of the Chesapeake Bay and Mid-Atlantic water. They swim in large schools that stratify by size and age along the coast. Younger and smaller fish are found in the Chesapeake Bay and southern coastline while older, larger fish are found along the northern coastline.
Wikipedia contributors, Atlantic menhaden; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T06:38:25.753537+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Brevoortia tyrannus (Latrobe, 1802)
- Name authority
- (Latrobe, 1802)
- Common name
- Atlantic menhaden
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Teleostei
- Order
- Clupeiformes
- Family
- Alosidae
- Genus
- Brevoortia
- Extinction status
- Not supplied by this source
Source habitat flags: Marine: yes · Freshwater: no · 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
- genusBrevoortia Gill, 1861
- speciesBrevoortia tyrannus (Latrobe, 1802)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Brevoortia. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| finescale menhadenBrevoortia gunteri Hildebrand, 1948 | AlosidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Brevoortia pectinata (Jenyns, 1842) | AlosidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Gulf menhadenBrevoortia patronus Goode, 1878 | 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 |
|---|---|
| Clupea menhaden Mitchill, 1814 Mitchill, 1814 | synonym |
| Clupea carolinensis Gronow in Gray, 1854 Gronow in Gray, 1854 | synonym |
| Clupea neglecta Rafinesque, 1818 Rafinesque, 1818 | synonym |
| Clupea tyrannus Latrobe, 1802 Latrobe, 1802 | 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=158691 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:5WQZY. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.