Fish called herring are also found in the Arabian Sea, Indian Ocean, and Bay of Bengal.

The origins of the term "herring" is somewhat unclear, though it may derive from the same source as the Old High German heri meaning a "host, multitude", in reference to the large schools they form.

The table immediately below includes those members of the family Clupeidae referred to by FishBase as herrings which have been assessed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

In sexually mature herring, the genital organs grow before spawning, reaching about one-fifth of its total weight.

The eggs sink to the bottom, where they stick in layers or clumps to gravel, seaweed, or stones, by means of their mucous coating, or to any other objects on which they chance to settle.

The reasons for this success are still enigmatic; one speculation attributes their dominance to the huge, extremely fast cruising schools they inhabit.

During daylight, herring stay in the safety of deep water, feeding at the surface only at night when the chance of being seen by predators is less.

If prey concentrations reach very high levels, as in microlayers, at fronts, or directly below the surface, herring become filter feeders, driving several meters forward with wide open mouth and far expanded opercula, then closing and cleaning the gill rakers for a few milliseconds.

When they spread their antennae, they can sense the pressure wave from an approaching fish and jump with great speed over a few centimetres.

If copepod concentrations reach high levels, schooling herrings adopt a method called ram feeding.

The copepods sense with their antennae the pressure wave of an approaching herring and react with a fast escape jump.

Herrings, along with Atlantic cod and sprat, are the most important commercial species to humans in the Baltic Sea.

[119] The analysis of the stomach contents of these fish indicate Atlantic cod is the top predator, preying on the herring and sprat.

[121] Predators of herring include seabirds, marine mammals such as dolphins, porpoises, whales, seals, and sea lions, predatory fish such as sharks, billfish, tuna, salmon, striped bass, cod, and halibut.

The predators often cooperate in groups, using different techniques to panic or herd a school of herring into a tight bait ball.

Swordfish charge at high speed through the bait balls, slashing with their swords to kill or stun prey.

These sharks compact their prey school by swimming around them and splashing the water with their tails, often in pairs or small groups.

In Europe, the fish has been called the "silver of the sea", and its trade has been so significant to many countries that it has been regarded as the most commercially important fishery in history.

The fish is served numerous ways, and many regional recipes are used: eaten raw, fermented, pickled, or cured by other techniques, such as being smoked as kippers.

During the Middle Ages, herring prompted the founding of Great Yarmouth and Copenhagen and played a critical role in the medieval development of Amsterdam.

[132] In 1274, while on his deathbed at the monastery of Fossanova (south of Rome, Italy), when encouraged to eat something to regain his strength, Thomas Aquinas asked for fresh herring.