ANCHOVY. 21.0 



The Anchovy is reported to be at this time an inhabitant 

 of the large piece of water below Blackwall, called Dagenham 

 Breach ; and in May 1838 I received one that was caught in 

 the Thames, where, however, this species is so little known, 

 that the specimen referred to was sent to me with a request 

 to know what fish it was. 



In a series of notes on the occurrence of rare fish at Yar- 

 mouth and its vicinity, with which I have been favoured by 

 Dawscn Turner, Esq. there is mention of a specimen of the 

 Anchovy, taken on the beach, Avhich measured six inches and 

 a half in length. Mr. Couch says he has seen it in the Corn- 

 ish seas of the length of seven inches and a half : additional 

 proofs of the large size acquired by this fish on our shores. 

 Dr. George Johnston does not mention this species as occur- 

 ring' on the coast of Berwickshire, nor does Dr. Parnell 



O 



include it in his Fishes of the Forth : yet its range to the 

 North is extensive, as it is occasionally taken on the coast of 

 Norway and in the Baltic ; but is not included by Linnaeus 

 in his Fauna Suecica. 



The Anchovy is immediately recognised among the spe- 

 cies of the family to which it belongs, by its sharp-pointed 

 head, with the upper jaw considerably the longest. The 

 length of the head compared with the length of the body 

 alone is as one to three ; the depth of the body but two- 

 thirds of the length of the head, and compared to the length 

 of the whole fish is as one to seven : the first ray of the dor- 

 sal fin arises half-way between the point of the nose and the 

 end of the fleshy portion of the tail ; the third ray of the 

 dorsal fin, which is the longest, is of the same length as the 

 base of the fin : the pectoral fin small ; the ventral fins arise, 

 in a vertical line, in advance of the commencement of the 

 dorsal fin, which is over the space betAveen the ventral and 

 anal fins : the base of the anal fin is as long as the distance 

 from its commencement to the origin of the ventral fins ; the 



