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Wild About Illinois Fishes!
Family Clupeidae - Herring Family
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Clupeiformes - The herrings and shads live near the water's surface and eat plankton. They have silvery scales. The body is flattened side to side. The swim bladder is connected to the inner ear and thus increases the ability of these fishes to hear sounds.
Family: Clupeidae - Herrings are silvery, flat-sided fishes. The herrings have a ridge on the middle of the belly with sharp, pointed scales. They have no lateral line and no scales on the head. They resemble members of the mooneye family but differ in having the dorsal fin far forward of the anal fin. A small, triangular projection, the axillary process, is present above the base of the pelvic fin.