126 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



subsequently, 1 seems to have beeu adopted by all tbe Swedish ichthy- 

 ologists, but has been questioned by Professor Kroycr, who says, in his 

 great work on the fish of Denmark, that he is not convinced of the 

 correctness of Professor Nilsso)i>s distinction of different species of 

 herring from the southern Baltic, the Kattegat, and Norway. 2 



From the. western portion of the North Sea, Yarrcll has described two 

 analogous forms of herring as different species: Clupea leachii and 

 Clupea alba,* the latter of which, however, is only a herring in an earlier 

 stage of its development. 4 



In the year 1833, in testimony before a committee of inquiry ordered 

 by His Majesty, the Bohus-liiu fishermen distinguished the following 

 kinds of herring: 1. The so-called old (" gamla") herring, (which for- 

 merly came in every year from the North Sea ; 2, the half-grown 

 " ToUsil," (so called from the Swedish word " lott," a kind of net,) found 

 both toward the end of the last fishing-period and later, and whichneither 

 propagated nor was to be seen in its full-grown state near the coast ; 

 and, 3, the "spring-herring," or " grass-herring," belonging to the coast, 

 and caught during the old fisheries as well as since. The distinctive 

 marks assigned by the fishermen were very nearly the same as those 

 ■which are generally employed by JS T ilsson and other professional ichthy- 

 ologists in distinguishing the various species of herrings, viz, the size 

 of the head, height of body, length of dorsal and ventral fins, size of 

 scales, and time of spawning. The opinion of the fishermen was at- 

 tacked by Professor Nilsson as being unreasonable, and all the Swedish 

 naturalists adopted his views. 5 



Obs. Pulli omnium barum varietatum sub nomine Smdsill — small-berring — (et adbuc 

 minores Ansjovis — ancbovies — ) venditantur. Nomen vero Smasill etiam imponitur 

 varietatibus minoribus formse insequentis. 



2: do Forma tceniensis (coast-herring), capite, oculis et rictu majoribus; orbita ^ — , J 7 

 longit. corp.; veutralibus fere sub medio pinnse dorsalis; distantia a rostro ad pinnas 

 pectorales multo longiore quam a ventralibus ad anum, et ajquaute distantiam a 

 ventralibus ad mediam analem : 



1. Clupea Cimbrica. Sv. Kivik-Sill vel Cimbrishamns-Sill. In parte meridionali 

 maris baltbici. 



2. Clupea membras. Sv. Strumming. In parte superiori maris baltbici. 



1 Skandinavisk Fauna. IV, p. 492-493. 



2 Danmarks Fiske. Ill, p. Ii5-156. 

 » British Fishes, 3 ed., I, pp. Ill, 121. 



4 The Clupea alba (subsequently called by Valenciennes Eogenia alba) was estab- 

 lished by Yarrellfor the celebrated "Whitebait" of English gourmands, but has been 

 satisfactorily demonstrated to be nothing more than the young of the herring. — S. F. B. 



5 It does not, however, seem at all unreasonable to suppose that during the old 

 Bohus-Lan fisheries the great herring came from the North Sea, and that its descend- 

 ants, the young herring, visited the coast of Norway, (see Boeclc, Om Silden, p. 130 ; 

 Trangrumsacten, p. 173,) presuming that the small herring (lotsill) coming to the coact 

 of Bohus-Lan from tbe sea, was descended, e. g., from the Kattegat herring, spawning 

 in autumn, or from the Limfiord herring, spawning iu spring. G. 0. Sars'a investiga- 

 tions regarding the young or so-called summer-herring caught in Norway, are very 

 instructive in this respect, as they point to very similar results. 



