Family Clupeidae' 



SAMUEL F. HILDEBRAND2 



excepting 



Genus Harengula by Luis R. Rivas 

 Genus Dorosoma by Robert R. Miller 



Characters. Body usually slender in most but short and deep in a few species; 

 slightly to excessively compressed in most but almost round in some. Scales covering 

 body; cycloid, serrate, or pectinate; head naked. Chest and abdomen compressed into 

 a sharp edge, armed with Bony scutes, except in the Dussumierinae (see i a in Key to 

 Genera). Lateral line wanting. Mouth moderately large, terminal, superior or infe- 

 rior. Teeth in jaws small, or canine-like in Chirocentrlnae (see 1 1 b in Key to Genera), 

 sometimes wanting in large adults of Alosa. Gill rakers usually long, slender, nu- 

 merous, increasing in number with age and growth in some species, in moderate 

 numbers in others. Gill membranes not united, free from the isthmus. Pseudobran- 

 chiae present. Dorsal fin, if present, usually about at midlength of the standard 

 length, but sometimes posterior (present in American species). Adipose fin absent. 

 Caudal fin forked. Anal moderately long to very long. Pelvic fin moderately large, 

 small, or absent. Pectoral fin well developed. Vertebrae in species of the western 

 North Atlantic about 39-59. 



Remarks. This large family, composed of about 70 genera and perhaps 150 or 

 more species, of which 16 genera and 36 species come within the scope of this work, 

 is economically one of the most important groups of fishes in the world. Many of the 

 species occur in great schools, making it easy for either man or natural predators to 



1. Edited, with some revision and expansion, by George S. Myers, Henry B. Bigelow, Mywanwy M. Dick, and Yngve 

 H. Olsen. 



Some of the subfamilies recognized herein, pai'ticularly the Dussumierinae and Dorosomatinae, have been treated 

 as separate families in some recent works. Nevertheless their affinities are with the Clupeidae. For practical purposes, 

 therefore, the characters of the subfamilies have been sufficiently indicated in the Key to Genera (p. 259) for the 

 major subdivisions to be recognized without further treatment elsewhere. 



2. August 15, 1883 - March 16, 1949. 



>7 

 257 



