Order:	Clupeiformes
Family:	Clupeidae	(Herring family)
Genus and species:	Alosa alosa	(Allis Shad)

William Yarrell (1836) in "A History of British Fishes":

THE ALLICE SHAD.

Alosa	communis,	Cuvier, Règne An. t. ii. p. 319.
"	"	Willughby, pl. P. 3, fig. 2.
"	"	Allice,	Penn. Brit. Zool. vol. iii. p. 463.
"	"	Alose	Duhamel, sect. iii. pl. 1, fig. 1.

THE ALLICE SHAD, by far the larger of the two in size, appears to be much more limited in its localities as a British species. It is represented by Pennant and others as abundant in the Severn, but is much less known elsewhere.
Dr. Hastings, in his Illustrations of the Natural History of Worcestershire, at page 77 says, "This is another fish which the Severn affords in great perfection. These fish generally appear in May, though sometimes in April. This, however, depends a good deal upon the quality of the water : if it is clear, they ascend early in the spring ; but if there happens to be a flood, they wait till the waters are restored to their former purity ; and if they meet with a flood in their progress upward, they immediately return, and keep below Gloucester. The weight of this Shad (the Allice of Pennant) is seldom less than four pounds ; they continue in the river about two months, and are succeeded by a variety called the Twaite, which is less than the Shad, never weighing more than two pounds, and is but little esteemed. Dr. Fleming says, that the celebrated Whitebait of the Thames, which appears near Blackwall and Greenwich during the month of July, is the fry of this fish ; but as, although the Shad are plentiful in the Severn, we hear nothing of the Whitebait,* further investigation seems to be required on this point."
In the Thames, the Allice Shad is of rare occurrence. A specimen was brought to me in 1831, that had been caught above Putney Bridge; and another was taken in 1833, which is noticed by Mr. Jesse in the third series of his Gleanings in Natural History, page 147. "This fish was taken June 25th, opposite Hampton Court Palace ; and its appearance so high up the river is very unusual. On taking it out of the well of the boat, it was full of spawn, and died immediately." I have had opportunities of examining very fine specimens from the Severn, sent to me by T. B. L. Baker, Esq. of Hardwick Court.
The flesh of this species is said to be of good flavour, and the quality is considered to improve the higher the fish ascends the river. Ælian says the Shads appear to take pleasure in the sounds of musical instruments ; but if it happens to thunder when they are ascending rivers, they return rapidly to the sea.
Both species of Shads have great resemblance, except in size, to Herrings, and have been frequently called the mother of Herrings. The large Herrings of two feet in length, so called by Anderson and others, and said to occur in the Northern Seas, and among our Northern Islands, are no doubt to be considered as referring to our Shads.
The specimen described measured two feet in length; the body deep and compressed; the thickness rather less than one-third of the depth. The length of the head compared to that of the whole fish is as one to six ; the depth compared to the whole length, as one to four and a half. The length of the base of the dorsal fin three inches ; the fourth ray, which is the longest, is one-third shorter than the whole length of the base of the fin ; the first and second rays shorter than the third ; these three rays simple, all the others branched : the first ray half-way between the point of the nose and the last ray of the anal fin ; the last ray exactly half-way between the point of the nose and the end of the tail. Pectoral fin small ; the upper ray the longest, strong, and simple ; the others branched: ventral fin also small ; the first ray arising in a vertical line under the first ray of the dorsal fin ; axillary scales long, narrow, and pointed : anal fin commencing half-way between the ventral fin and the origin of the lower caudal rays, nearly one-fourth longer in the base than the dorsal fin ; the first three rays shorter than the fourth, which is the longest, and only one-third the length of the base of the fin : the tail long and slender, deeply forked ; the rays of the middle only one-fourth of the length of the longest external rays ; the seventh and thirteenth caudal rays furnished with membranous appendages on each side similar to those observed in the Twaite Shad. The fin-rays in number are -

D. 19 : P. 15 : V. 9 : A. 26 : C. 20.

The lower jaw the longest and smooth ; the upper jaw with a central notch ; the lateral edges crenated : the breadth of the eye rather less than one-fifth of the length of the head, and placed one diameter and a half from the end of the nose ; mucous vessels of the gill-covers beautifully distributed; the nape and shoulders rise suddenly , the greatest depth of the body just before the ventral fin ; scales of the body rather large, nearly circular, and thin ; no distinct lateral line ; abdominal edge strongly serrated, particularly behind the ventral fins. The colours very similar to those of the Twaite Shad, with a single dusky patch behind the operculum, sometimes scarcely visible.
Figure 1 of plate III. in Dr. Fleming's Philosophy of Zoology is a representation of the Allice Shad.
Intending to make the fishing-boats of several countries the subjects of some of the vignettes, that at page 120 represents a Dutch boat : the vignette below is a representation of a French fishing-boat.

* This, it may be remembered, was adduced as one of the proofs that the Whitebait were not the young of the Shad.

Frank Buckland (1880) in "Natural History of British Fishes":

SHAD.

MR. COUCH figures three kinds of Shad -- Allice shad, (Clupea alosa, Alosa vulgaris), Alewife, Damin herring (Scadina).
Twaite Shad or Maid (Clupea alosa, c. finta, Alosa finta).

Frank Buckland continues about the Twaite shad.

The Allice shad (Clupea alosa, Alosa vulgaris, German: Der Maifisch, Alse, Else; French: L’Alose) is very local, abounding in the Severn and Wye, but much less known elsewhere. The flesh of this species is said to be of superior flavour to the former, and to improve the higher the fish ascends the river.
Mr. D. Miller, who has an extensive shad fishery at Newnham, near Gloucester, in the Severn, has given me the following interesting particulars: --
“The shad fish season begins late in April, about the 15th to the 20th, according to the heat of the season. If cold winds blow it begins later on. They are changeable, but the small cocks come first, so small that two are only equal to one hen. I know of only one sort of shad fish. The young cock is smaller than the hen, and comes rather earlier, but the big cock, or real shad fish, is this season later in coming, by a week, viz., June 20 or thereabouts. The wholesale price is changeable. In the spring the price is six shillings per dozen, owing to the smallness of the cocks ; later on four shillings per dozen, as one hen counts for two cocks, and thirteen to the dozen. Our market is in the locality of Gloucester and Dean Forest, east and west ; also a few have been sent to London this year, and other local markets nearer home. I think they spawn on the sands in the Severn, at least I have heard old fishermen say so. The young are seen in great numbers in the shallow and easy waters, at or near the close of the season, in a warm time. I think the large shad is generally an old cock in the Severn ; but I have seen the same species occasionally in the river Tay forty years ago or more.”

Alwyne Wheeler (1969) in "The Fishes of the British Isles and North West Europe":

Allis Shad

Alosa alosa (Linnaeus, 1758)

NAMES Fr. Alose; Du. Groote Meivisch; Ge. Maifisch; Da. Majsild; Nor. Maifisk.

IDENTIFICATION These deep-bodied herring- like fishes have fragile silvery scales. The upper jaw is distinctly notched in the mid-line and the lower jaw fits inside it; the jaws are equal in length. The gill cover is weakly ridged with radiating lines. The body is flattened from side to side and there are strong spines along the belly. The height of the body at the pectoral fin is more than the length of the head; the dorsal profile is strongly curved. The first gill arch has 80-130 gill rakers; the rakers are long and thin, and appear to be longer and more numerous than the gill filaments (see Fig. 49). The colour on the back is a deep blue, on the sides silvery white, both with a brilliant metallic gleam. A single large dark spot behind the gill cover is sometimes absent. It grows to 24 in (60 cm).
D. 18-21; A. 20-6; lateral line 70-80; vertebrae 57-8.

BIOLOGY The allis shad is much larger than its relative and is apparently much rarer in northern Europe, although on the Atlantic coasts from southern Ireland southwards it becomes more common. Adults enter rivers from the sea in spring-time (hence 'May fish') and spawn in fresh water. They penetrate far upstream, although they do not enter the smaller tributaries. The presence of man-made obstacles in most European rivers in part explains the scarcity of this fish.
Spawning takes place at night in April or May, in large shoals, near the surface and usually where the current is swift. The eggs sink to the bottom and lodge between the stones of the river bed; they hatch in from four to eight days according to the temperature. Growth in the rivers is rapid; the young at hatching measure ¼-½ in (8-12 mm), at two months up to 2 in (35-50 mm) and at six months 3 in (60-75 mm), and a twelve-month-old allis shad may be from 3½-5½ in (9-13.6 cm) long. Some descend to the sea at twelve months, others spend up to two years in the river. After spawning, the adults return immediately to the sea.
Allis shad are dominantly plankton feeders. The young, whilst in fresh water, feed on copepods, midge larvae, Cladocera and ostracods. Large fish feed mainly on zooplankton, principally copepods (Calanus), decapods (Pandalus) and euphausiids (Meganyctiphanes), and also some young fish.
This shad, despite its very palatable flesh and large size, has little value in Europe, mainly because it is so scarce that only small local fisheries can exist to exploit it.

DISTRIBUTION

Also the western Mediterranean, and races in the eastern Mediterranean and Black Sea.