50 Isospondyli 



the lakes of New York. The skipjack of the Gulf of Mexico, 

 Pomolobus chrysochloris, becomes very fat in the sea. The 

 species becomes land-locked in the Ohio River, where it thrives 

 as to numbers, but remains lean and almost useless as food. The 

 glut-herring, Pomolobus cestivalis, and the sprat, Pomolobus 

 sprattus, of Europe are related forms. 



Very near also to the herring is the shad (Alosa sapidissimd) 

 of the eastern coasts of America, and its inferior relatives, the 



FIG. 39. Alewife, Pomolobus pseudoharengus (Wilson). Potomac River. 



shad of the Gulf of Mexico (Alosa alabama), the Ohio River 

 shad (Alosa ohiensis), very lately discovered, the Allice shad 

 (Alosa alosa) of Europe, and the Thwaite shad (Alosa finta). 

 In the genus Alosa the cheek region is very deep, giving the 

 head a form different from that seen in the herring. 



The American shad is the best food-fish in the family, pecu- 

 liarly delicate in flavor when broiled, but, to a greater degree 

 than occurs in any other good food-fish, its flesh is crowded 

 with small bones. The shad has been successfully introduced 

 into the waters of California, where it abounds from Puget 

 Sound to Point Concepcion, ascending the rivers to spawn in 

 May as in its native region, the Atlantic coast. 



The genus Sardinella includes species of rich flesh and feeble 

 skeleton, excellent when broiled, when they may be eaten bones 

 and all. This condition favors their preservation in oil as 

 "sardines." All the species are alike excellent for this pur- 

 pose. The sardine of Europe is the Sardinella pilchardus, known 

 in England as the pilchard. The "Sardina de Espana" of 



