Atlantic herring

Clupea harengus

A small schooling fish of the North Atlantic. Its flashing silver shoals support seabirds, larger fish, marine mammals, and long-running fisheries.

Key facts

Atlantic herring (Clupea harengus) is a filter feeder animal classified as Fish · Clupeiformes · Clupeidae.
Primary habitats are open ocean · coast, with a range across Atlantic Ocean · Arctic Ocean · Palearctic · Nearctic.
Activity is cathemeral, sociality is herd, and conservation status is LC (Least Concern).
A small schooling fish of the North Atlantic.
Lives in cold North Atlantic, North Sea, and Baltic waters.

Habitat range map

Native rangeOccasional / Transient

Map: Ecoregions 2017 © RESOLVE (CC BY 4.0) · Natural Earth (PD)

Lives in cold North Atlantic, North Sea, and Baltic waters. Populations move seasonally between coastal spawning grounds and offshore feeding areas.

The body is slender and silvery with a bluish-green back. A keeled belly and reflective scales help blur individuals within a school.

It forms large schools that shift direction together. Depth changes with light, season, and predator pressure.

It filters plankton and small crustaceans through the gills, also taking copepods and fish eggs as it grows.

Adults lay masses of sticky eggs on gravel, stones, or seaweed. Larvae hatch into coastal plankton before joining juvenile schools.

Salted and smoked herring shaped food trade around the North Atlantic. Stock size depends on ocean conditions and fishing pressure.