ALLICE SHAD. 215 



Both species of Shads have great resemblance, except in 

 size, to Herrings, and have been frequently called the mother 

 of Herrings, and king and queen of the Herrings. The large 

 Herrings of two feet in length, so called by Anderson and 

 others, and said to occur in the Northern Seas, and among 

 our Northern Islands, are no doubt to be considered as refer- 

 ring to our Shads. 



The specimen described measured two feet in length ; 

 the body deep and compressed ; the thickness rather less 

 than one-third of the depth. The length of the head com- 

 pared to that of the whole fish is as one to six ; the depth 

 compared to the whole length, as one to four and a half. 

 The length of the base of the dorsal fin three inches ; the 

 fourth ray, which is the longest, is one-third shorter than the 

 whole length of the base of the fin ; the first and second rays 

 shorter than the third ; these three rays simple, all the others 

 branched : the first ray half-way between the point of the 

 nose and the last ray of the anal fin ; the last ray exactly 

 half-way between the point of the nose and the end of the 

 tail. Pectoral fin small ; the upper ray the longest, strong, 

 and simple ; the others branched : ventral fin also small ; the 

 first ray arising in a vertical line under the first ray of the 

 dorsal fin ; axillary scales long, narrow, and pointed : anal 

 fin commencing half-way between the ventral fin and the 

 origin of the lower caudal rays, nearly one-fourth longer in 

 the base than the dorsal fin ; the first three rays shorter than 

 the fourth, which is the longest, and only one-third the 

 length of the base of the fin : the tail long and slender, 

 deeply forked ; the rays of the middle only one-fourth of the 

 length of the longest external rays ; the seventh and thir- 

 teenth caudal rays furnished with membranous appendages on 

 each side similar to those observed in the Twaite Shad. The 

 fin-rays in number are 



D. 19 : P. 15 : V. 9 : A. 26 : C. 20. 



