250 NEW-YORK FAUNA. 



FAMILY CLUPIDM. 



Dorsal single. No adipose Jin. Upper jaw formed as in the preceding family ; in the 

 centre by inter mamillaries, and on the sides by the labials. Body very scaly. 



GENUS CLUPEA. Cuvier. 



Body compressed. Scales large, thin, and deciduous. Tongue and vomer furnished with 

 teeth. Under jaw longest. 



THE COMMON AMERICAN HERRING. 



Clupea elongata. 



The Herring of Commerce, C. harengus. Mitchill, Am. Month. Mag. Vol. 2, p. 323. 



Clupea elongata. Lesueur, Journ. Acad. Nat. Sciences, Vol. 1, p. 234. 



Clupea elongata, The Common Herring. Storer, Report on the Ichthyology of Massachusetts, p. 111. 



Characteristics. Back and head deep blue, tinged with yellow. Tail with caudal pouches. 

 Length 12-13 inches. 



Description. Body lengthened, fusiform, compressed. Depth at the dorsal fin to the total 

 length, as one to fourteen. Back slightly arched. Scales large, silvery and deciduous. Ab- 

 domen sharp, indistinctly serrated ; about thirty spines in front of the ventrals, and fifteen 

 behind them. Two scaly appendages on each side of the caudal fin. Head destitute of scales, 

 and about one-seventh of the total length ; a depression above, with numerous mucous pores. 

 Eyes large, with a nictitating membrane, and two diameters apart. Mouth large. Jaws, 

 palate and tongue furnished with teeth. Dorsal subquadrangular, longer than high. Pecto- 

 rals short, rounded. Ventrals under the middle of the dorsal fin. Anal subequal, narrow, 

 highest in front. Caudal small, forked. 



Color. Back and head deep blue, tinged with yellow. Opercles yellowish, tinged with 

 violet. Irides silvery ; pupils black. 



This species,* which rarely descends to the coast of New-York, is occasionally taken in 

 considerable numbers in the waters south of Cape Cod. Of late, their numbers have much 

 diminished, which is attributed by the fishermen, according to Dr. Storer, to torching them 



* As this species has been confounded with two species on the coast of Europe, we subjoin their diagnostic characters: 



1. C. harengits, the Common Herring. Back dark and glossy blue. Belly distinctly serrated in the young, obsolete with 



age. Under jaw tipped with black. Base of the ventrals under the sixth dorsal ray. First ray of the dorsal fin 

 exactly half way between the tip of the snout and the base of the middle caudal ray; if held up by the anterior 

 dorsal rays, the head dips considerably. Vertebra 56. Anal with 15 rays. 



2. C. pikhardus, tlic Pilchard. Back bluish green. Belly smooth. Dorsal fin with its last ray equidistant between the 



tip of the snout and half way along the caudal ray; if held up by anterior dorsal rays, the body preserves its equili- 

 brium. Vertebra 55. Anal with 18 rays. 



