Atlantic herring: Where It Lives, Map & Facts

Where the Atlantic herring lives – recorded in 19 countries, with quick facts from Wikidata and an introduction from Wikipedia.

Scientific name	Clupea harengus
Group	Bony fish
Status	Least concern (Wikidata, IUCN category label)
Found in	19 countries
Continents	Europe, North America
Class	Ray-finned fish
Order	Clupeiformes
Family	Clupeidae

Where does the Atlantic herring live?

Open-licence (CC0 / CC BY) wild records published on GBIF place the Atlantic herring in 19 countries and territories across Europe and North America.

Countries with at least a handful of records (a minimum share of the species’ records, to leave out vagrants and escapes). Records with coordinates only; captive and fossil records excluded.

Is the Atlantic herring endangered?

The Atlantic herring’s conservation status recorded in Wikidata is “Least concern” (an IUCN Red List category label). Source: Wikidata.

What kind of animal is the Atlantic herring?

The Atlantic herring (Clupea harengus) is a ray-finned fish in the order Clupeiformes and the family Clupeidae, genus Clupea. (Taxonomy from Wikidata.)

About the Atlantic herring

Atlantic herring (Clupea harengus) is a herring in the family Clupeidae. It is one of the most abundant fish species in the world. Atlantic herrings can be found on both sides of the northern Atlantic Ocean, congregating in large schools. They can grow up to 45 centimetres (18 in) in length and weigh up to 1.1 kilograms (2.4 lb). They feed on copepods, krill and small fish, while their natural predators are seals, whales, cod and other larger fish.

The Atlantic herring fishery has long been an important part of the economy of New England and the Atlantic provinces of Canada. This is because the fish congregate relatively near to the coast in massive schools, notably in the cold waters of the semi-enclosed Gulf of Maine and Gulf of St. Lawrence. North Atlantic herring schools have been measured up to 4 cubic kilometres (0.96 cu mi) in size, containing an estimated four billion fish.

Text in “About” is quoted from the Wikipedia article Atlantic herring (revision 1380858616), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: lead section excerpted verbatim, formatting removed. Quick facts, taxonomy and status: Wikidata Q2396858 (CC0). Countries and pin: GBIF.org occurrence records (CC0 / CC BY 4.0).