THE HERRING AND ITS KINDRED 



261 



Pha!„ h, ty. ScivilU-Kinl. F.Z. SI 



iMilftrd-tn-Sia 



OX-EYED HERRING 



This species attains a length of sei'erat feet 



sweeping trawl-net. The shad's eggs also sink to the bottom, but are deposited in the less 

 buoyant waters of rivers. 



The Pilchard, the all-important fish (together with mackerel) on the south-west coast of 

 England, is of a more decided green hue than either of the foregoing. Its scales are large and 

 coarse, and its back-fin starts closer to the head than in the rest. The pilchard of Cornwall and 

 the sardine of the Mediterranean are one and the same fish in different stages of growth — that is 

 to say, the pilchard is a grown-up sardine. The late Matthias Dunn of Mevagissey was one of 

 the first practical fishermen to accept this identity, and the flourishing sardine factory at his 

 native town bears lasting witness to his enterprise. Although, from the economic standpoint, 

 we associate the pilchard with the extreme south-west of the English Channel, the fish finds its 

 way to more eastern counties. The writer has found it at both liournemouth and Ventnor; 

 and it is taken, though sparsely, in the herring-nets of the North Sea fleets. 



The AXCHOVV, smaller than any of the foregoing, may be distinguished b}- its projecting, 

 shark-like snout and deepl_\' cleft mouth. It is seen in England only pickled for table purposes, 

 but the writer used fresh anchovies for bait almost daily during a stay of four months on the 

 shores of the Mediterranean. 



The two shads — the Ai.Lls Sll.MJ and T\v.\ite Shad — are in some respects, though less 

 important commerciall}-, the most interesting of the famil\^ Their habit of coming up rivers to 

 spawn, like salmon, has been already noticed, but the\- appear to be more difficult to please than 

 the other fish. The Severn used to be a noted shad-river, but the fishery has fallen off of 

 late years. The Allis Sh.ad grows to a weight of 7 or 8 lbs., and its pale green and silver 

 scales are varied b}' some darker spots at irregular intervals on the shoulders and sides. The 

 edge of the belly is serrated, like that of the sprat. The fish has a curious transparent 

 eyelid, and its other peculiarities include an abnormally large number of gill-rakers, through 

 which the water filters much as it does through the " whalebone " of whales. Its food is said 

 to consist of small fishes and shrimps, as well as of vegetable substances. Though usually 

 caught, for market purposes, in a seine-net, which is slipped round the shoal in shallow water, 

 the shad is now and then taken on the hook, and instances of this are on record in the 

 neighbourhood of Deal. The rivers of Morocco are very productive of shad, particularly the 

 BOUREGREG at Rabat, and the Um Erbev.\ at Azimur. At the latter town the writer has 

 bought newly caught shad weighing 5 or 6 lbs. for native nione_\' equi\alcnt to as many pence. 



