564 TELEOSTEI 



CHAP. 



Heralded by the genus Thrissopater, 1 which may be regarded as 

 a connecting type between the Elopidae and the Clupeidae, this 

 family is largely represented in Cretaceous times, more abundantly 

 still in the Eocene and Miocene, where Clupea and Engraulis 

 occur in numerous species ; Hyperlophus, distinguished from 

 Clupea by the presence of a dorsal serrated ridge similar to the 

 ventral, occurs in the Upper Cretaceous of Syria, Southern 

 Europe, and South America, in the Eocene of North America and 

 Europe, and is represented at the present day on the West Coast 

 of South America and on the coast and in the rivers of New 

 South Wales. About 200 Clupeids are known to live at the 

 present day, mostly marine species, but a few are confined to fresh- 

 waters ; none may be termed deep-sea forms ; some, like the Allis 

 Shad (Clupea alosa) and Twait Shad (C. Jinta), are anadromous, 

 ascending rivers to spawn. The range of the family is almost 

 cosmopolitan. Several species are remarkable for the extreme 

 abundance of individuals, as for example the Herring {Clupea 

 Tiarengus), the Pilchard or Sardine (C. pilchardus), and the 

 Anchovy (Engraulis encrasicliolus}. The Herring inhabits the 

 northern parts of the Atlantic and the seas north of Asia. As 

 Dr. Gtinther first showed, the so-called " Whitebait " consists 

 chiefly of the fry of Herrings, which, like those of the Sprat 

 (C. sprattus), have a predilection for brackish water. The 

 Anchovy and the Pilchard, on the other hand, seldom if ever 

 enter estuaries. The eggs of the Herring, contrary to those of 

 most British marine food-fishes, are heavy and adhesive, sticking 

 firmly to stones or fixed objects on the sea bottom, whilst those 

 of the Sprat and Pilchard float on the surface. The larvae are 

 long, slender, and transparent. The Sardine, which affords so 

 valuable a fishery on the West Coast of France, is the immature 

 state of the Pilchard, which grows to a length of 10 to 14 

 inches. Its movements are not yet well understood, and its 

 scarcity during certain years in the waters where it usually 

 swarms has caused periodical crises in an important industry. 

 Ripe Pilchards are mostly found at a considerable distance from 

 the coasts. The Anchovy is especially abundant in the Mediter- 



1 I have not been able to convince myself of the existence of an intergular plate 

 in this genus, but I ana satisfied that the postclavicle rests on the outer side of the 

 clavicular arch. The bone that has been regarded as a small intergular plate in 

 Spaniodon is, in my opinion, the glossohyal. 



