436 



NATURAL HISTORY. 



Family V. Clupcidrc. (Lat. Clupca, a Herring.) 



CLTJPBA. 





Pilchardus (Lat. the Pilchard). 



The value of the HERRING family to man is almost incalcu- 

 lable The PILCHARD and the Herring are very similar in ap- 

 pearance, but may be easily known by the position of the 

 dorsal fin, which in the Pilchard is so exactly in the centre 

 of the body, that if the fish is held by it, the body exactly 

 balances ; while in the herring, the dorsal fin is placed rather 

 backwards, so that when suspended, the fish hangs with its 

 head downwards. 



Unlike the herring, which visits every part of our coasts, 

 the Pilchard is only found on the shores of Devonshire and 

 Cornwall. Here, however, the enormous shoals that annually 

 make their appearance, fully compensate for the limited space 

 occupied by them. Occasionally a few shoals are seen on the 

 southern coast of Ireland. The coasts of France and Spain 

 are tolerably frequent resorts of this fish. 



The fish are usually taken in an enormous building of nets, 

 called " sean nets." The nets used in the scan fishery are two, 

 a large net called the " stop sean," about a quarter of a mile in 

 length, and a hundred feet in depth ; and a smaller net, called 

 the " tuck sean," about a furlong in length, and a hundred and 

 twenty feet in depth, the average value of the two nets being 

 500Z. 



When the fishermen see a shoal of pilchards approaching, 



