Skipjack Shad Identification Guide

Key identification features

• Elongate, moderately compressed, streamlined body reaching up to 45 cm
• Bright silvery sides with a bluish-green back
• Distinctly projecting lower jaw that extends past the upper jaw
• Usually lacks a clear dark shoulder spot, unlike many related shads
• Deeply forked tail fin and a sharp keel of scutes along the belly
• Single dorsal fin set at mid-body, no adipose fin

Common look-alikes

• American shad: shows a distinct dark shoulder spot (sometimes followed by fainter spots) and a less strongly projecting lower jaw than skipjack shad.
• Threadfin and gizzard shad: both have blunter, less protruding jaws and, in threadfin shad's case, a trailing dorsal fin filament that skipjack shad lacks.
• Herrings: lack the pronounced underbite and sharp belly keel that mark skipjack shad.

Where you'll see one

Skipjack shad live in large rivers, reservoirs, and open water of the Mississippi River basin and Gulf Coast drainages of North America, often seen leaping and feeding actively near the surface.