GEN. COREGONUS. THE GWYNIAD. 151 



Gen. LXYIII. Coregonus. — Mouth still smaller 

 than in the preceding species ; teeth on the jaws or 

 tongue, very minute, sometimes wanting ; first dor- 

 sal higher in front than long; scales very large. The 

 species of this genus, which bear so strong a resem- 

 blance to Herring as frequently to be called Fresh- 

 icater Herring, are numerous on the Continent, and 

 the few that occur in this country have, till lately, 

 been confounded with each other. The first we 

 have to notice is supposed to be 



(Sp. 134) C. fera of Cuvier, and is the Gwyniad 

 of Pennant and some other British authors. In its 

 adult state it is a fish from ten to twelve inches in 

 iength, with the upper part of the head and back 

 dusky blue, the sides lighter and tinged with yel- 

 low, belly silvery white ; the fins tinged with the 

 same colour as the back. The cheeks and gill- 

 covers are silvery white, from which circumstance 

 it has received the Welsh nameyzcy/i-Z^c/, or white- 

 pate. In the north of England it is called the 

 Schelly. The Cumberland lakes yield it in large 

 quantities. I*ennant states that in Ills water, be- 

 tween seven and eight thousand have been taken at 

 a draught, and that they prove a valuable boon to 

 the poorer classes, serving to the inland population 

 the same purpose as the Herring to the inhabitants 

 of the coast. He adds, however, that the flesh has 

 an insipid taste, and will not keep long. It was 

 formerly numerous in Wales, and is a well known 

 species in the Lake of Geneva and many of the 

 more northern parts of Europe. 



