346 BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF FISHERIES 



Leucichthys eriensis (jumbo herring, Erie great herring), both, according to these 

 authore, typical Lake Erie herring. 



The most recent study on the taxonomy of the species of Leucichthys from 

 Lake Huron, that of Dr. Walter Koelz (1929), based on a large amount of material 

 collected or examined at all the more important ports of Lake Huron and Georgian 

 Bay, recognizes but one species of herring in Lake Huron proper and its bays. This 

 species Doctor Koelz designates Leucichthys artedi Le Sueur (the blueback or lake 

 herring; fig. 15.) 



I am indebted to Doctor Koelz for most of the following description of L. artedi 

 and for much of the material in the section on natural history, which follows. 



In Lake Huron, herring greater than 12 inches in total length are relatively few in 

 number. The largest specimen I have taken weighed 2 pounds and 3 ounces and 

 measured 395 millimeters (15.6 inches) in standard length. The body of the lake her- 

 ring is elongate, elliptical, fusiform, and only slightly compressed. In side view the out- 

 line is almost perfectly elliptical. The greatest depth is commonly 22 to 25 per cent of 

 the length of the body. The head is nearly conical in form, relatively small and narrow, 

 and usually equals 21 to 23 per cent of the body length (4.3 to 4.6 times in length). 

 The premaxillaries are very short, scarcely longer than wide, and are oblique in 

 position. The snout is short and often equal to the eye in length. The maxillary 

 is short — usually 33 to 35 per cent of the head. The mandible is usually equal to 

 the upper jaw or a little shorter. The eye is rather large — usually 23 to 25 per cent 

 of the head's length. The gill rakers usually number 16-18 + 29-32=45-50. The 

 number of scales in the lateral line varies from (68) 72 to 88 (97) (my own counts; see 

 Table 7). The number of rays in the dorsal finisusually lOor ll,in the anal and ventral 

 fins usually 11 or 12, and in the pectoral fins usually 15 or 16. The pectorals usually 

 equal 45 to 50 percent of the pectoral-ventral distance. The ventrals usually equal 55 

 to 62 per cent of the distance from their origin to the anal. The flesh is somewhat dry 

 and firm. In alcohol the entire dorsal surface is of a deep smoky hue, wliich extends 

 to the lateral line and which in life is a deep blue green. The top of the head, the 

 premaxillaries, and the tip of the mandible are somewhat darker than the inaxillaries 

 and cheeks. The distal half of the pectorals, caudal, and dorsal and sometimes the anal 

 and ventrals are more or less black. The entire caudal fin is smoky, the shortest 

 rays being the darkest. In general, the lake herring may be distinguished from the 

 other species of Leucichthys in Lake Huron by its numerous gill rakers, short max- 

 illaries, short pectoral fins, firm flesh, and elliptical body contour. 



NATURAL HISTORY OF ADULTS 



The lake herring may be taken at virtually every port on Lake Huron. On 

 account of the dryness of its flesh it does not command a good price, so that many 

 Lake Huron fishermen make no attempt to set nets for it. Saginaw Bay ranks first in 

 the herring industry, while Alpena ranks second. On the Canadian shore the herring 

 fishery has been abandoned almost entirely. Even on the American shore the her- 

 ring are not sought where other more valuable species are available. They are sold 

 fresh, smoked, or salted. Herring is taken in either pound or gill nets (in trap nets 

 rarely) in the fall and spring of the year. Though unprotected by law and propa- 

 gated artificially only when it is not possible to fill the hatcheries with eggs of other 



