Herring - Fish Herring Herring, common name for several fishes of the order Clupeiformes, which also includes the anchovies.
Herrings are economically the most important group of fish to North America and western Europe.
They are saltwater fishes, abundant throughout the North Atlantic Ocean, in the North and Baltic seas, and in the North Pacific Ocean. Most swim near the surface of the water in huge schools and feed on plankton. Herrings are characterized by a single short dorsal fin in the middle of the upper margin of the body and by an anal fin similarly located below. The head is scaleless, and the slender body is covered with thin, cycloid scales in which rings of organic material, rich in guanine, are laid down each season. By counting these rings scientists can determine the age of the fish, which may live up to 20 years.