206 CLUPEID.E. 



nets, which are like Whitebait nets, only larger ; but these 

 nets, working near the bottom, principally arrest the fry of 

 the ground-swimming fishes. 



The Sprat-fishers take the adult Whitebait frequently on 

 the Kentish and Essex coasts throughout the winter. 



Dr. Parnell, in his History of the Fishes of the Forth, 

 says, " The Whitebait is not, as it was formerly considered 

 to be, peculiar to the Thames, as I have found it to inhabit 

 the Frith of Forth in considerable numbers during the sum- 

 mer months. From the beginning of July to the end of 

 September they are found in great abundance in the neigh- 

 bourhood of Queensferry, and opposite Hopetown House, 

 where I captured, in one dip of a small net of about a foot 

 and a half square, between two and three hundred fish, the 

 greater part of which were Whitebait of small size, not more 

 than two inches in length ; the remainder were Sprats, young 

 Herrings, and fry of other fishes. 



" In their habits they appear to be similar to the young of 

 the Herring, always keeping in shoals, and swimming occa- 

 sionally near the surface of the water, where they often fall a 

 prey to aquatic birds." 



The length of the head compared with that of the body 

 alone is as two to five ; the depth of the body compared to 

 the whole length of the fish, as one to five : the dorsal fin 

 commences half-way between the point of the closed jaws 

 and the ends of the short middle caudal rays ; the longest 

 ray of the dorsal fin as long as the base of the fin ; the ven- 

 tral fin arises behind the line of the commencement of the 

 dorsal, and half-way between the point of the closed jaws and 

 the end of the longest caudal rays ; the tail long and deeply 

 forked. The fin-rays in number are 



D. 17 : P. 15 : V. 9 : A. 15 : C. 20. Vertebrae 56. 

 The head is elongated; the dorsal line less convex than 



