allis shad
- noun
- UK
:
sábalo alis
- The allis shad migrates upstream every spring to spawn in freshwater rivers.
Examples
-
Fishermen in Europe often catch the allis shad during its seasonal migration.
-
Conservation efforts are in place to protect the allis shad and its critical spawning habitats.
-
Another alosine that appears to be undergoing a similar collapse because of recruitment overfishing is the allis shad; juvenile recruitment in the Gironde, the center of its range, has been negligible for the past few years.
Academic text (2009)
Synonyms
A large European fish that moves from the sea into rivers to lay eggs
A fish like a small herring that lives in European rivers and seas and swims upstream to lay eggs
A silvery fish like a herring that moves from the sea into rivers to lay eggs
A silvery fish that lives along European coasts and swims into rivers to lay eggs
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase names a species and its meaning is directly derivable from combining 'allis' (a coastal fish) with 'shad' (a herring-like migratory fish): it denotes a particular type of shad. This follows common noun‑noun species naming patterns that are transparent across languages, so a B1 learner who knows both words would understand it.
Etymology
Allis shad may come from an old word allis meaning 'moving'. The silver shad swims from the sea into rivers every year to lay eggs, so the name now refers to a fish known for that regular journey.
