Atlantic menhaden are members of the worldwide family Clupeidae, one of the most important families of fishes both economically and ecologically. Clupeids are characteristically very numerous and form large, dense schools. Many of the species are filter feeders, being either primary consumers, feeding on phytoplankton, or secondary consumers, feeding on zooplankton, or both. Many clupeids are in turn, prey for various piscivorous predators through virtually their entire life.

Atlantic menhaden are euryhaline species that inhabit nearshore and inland tidal waters from Florida to Nova Scotia, Canada. Spawning occurs principally at sea with some activity in bays and sounds in the northern portion of its range. Eggs hatch at sea and the larvae are transported to estuaries by ocean currents where they metamorphose and develop as juveniles. Adults stratify by size during the summer, with older, larger individuals found farther north. During the fall, Atlantic menhaden migrate south and disperse from nearshore surface waters off North Carolina by late January or early February. Schools of adult menhaden reassemble in late March or early April and migrate northward. By June the population is redistributed from Florida to Maine.

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