974 



SCANDINAVIAN KISIIES. 



THE SPRAT (S\V. .XKAIiPSILLKN c.It HVASSBUKKX). 



CI.UPEA SPEATTUS. 



Plate XLIV, tijr. 2. 



Length of flic Ihisc of flic mutl fn nxirv than ' ., of the (listtn/ic liettreen the retitral fns and the tip of the snout. 



Xinnlicr of sjiiiies at the ventral nuiroin .V.i* — 35". 



R. br. f, — \ 



D. 



,(17 — 19); 



12 — 14 



6'. .r + 1 + 17 + 1 + 

 11 — 13: Vevl. 4(3-49. 



P. -'—, V. ^ 

 15— IG' C 



3—5 

 ./■; Liii. hit. 47—50: 



Syn. 



Spraltiis 1. Upai-liiiyus (Huivngoruiu foetiira), Willughb., Hist. 

 Pise, p. 221; Ray, Syn. Pise, p. 105; LatiUus, Schonkv., 

 Ichtliyol. 6'lesv. Holsat., p. 41. Clupea quadriuncialis, ma- 

 xilla iuferiore loiigiore, ventre aciitissiTDO {Spratt Anglis, 

 Hvassbuk Suecis), Art. IcIiI., Gen., p. 7; Syn., p. 17; 

 Spec, p. 33; Lin., Fun Succ, ed. I, p. 120. Brisling, 

 Str6m, Sondm. Beskr., p. 271. 



Clupea Sprattus, Lin., Syst. Nat., ed. X, toin. I, p. 318; 

 Penn., Brit. Zool. (ed. Warrington, 177G), vol. Ill, p. 303; 

 Retz., Fna Siiec. Lin., p. 353; Swahtz, Soensk Zoologi, 

 vol. I, No. 28; NiLSS., Proilr. Ichthyol. Scand., p. 22; 

 Yarr., Brit. Fish., ed. I, vol. II, p. 121; Parn., Mem. 

 Wern. Nat. Hist. Sec, vol. VII, p. 322, tab. XXXV; Kr., 

 Voy. Scandin., Lappon., (Gaim.), Zool., Poiss., tab. 18; 

 Damn. Fisk., vol. Ill, p. 177; Ci:v:. Val. (Harengtila), 

 Hist. Nat. Poiss., vol. XX, p. 285; Sundev. {Clupea), 

 Stockh. L. Husb. Sails. Handl. 1855, pp. 81, 108, 185; Nilss., 

 Skand. Fna, Fisk., p. 510; Mgrn, Finl. Fiskfna, p. 69; 

 LiNDSTK., Gotl. Fisk.. Gotl. L. Hiisli. Sails. Arsber. 1866, 

 p. 20 (sep.); v. Bemm. (Harengiila) in Hbrkl., Bouwst. 

 Fna Nederl., part. Ill, ]>. 381; Gthr {Clupea), Cat. Brit. 

 Mus., Fish., vol. Vll, p. 419; Coll., Forh. Vid. Selsk. 

 Cbrnia 1874, Till.-egsb., p. 193; 1879, No. 1, p. 98; 

 N. Mag. Naturv. Chrnia, Bd. 29 (1884), p. 112; Seiul., 

 Fna Bah., p. 98; Malm, Gbgs, Boh. Fna, p. 582; 

 WiNTH., Naturli. Tidskr. Kbhvn, ser. 3, vol. XII, p. 48; 

 MoR. {Meletta), Hist. Nat. Poiss., Fr., loin. Ill, p. 447; 

 Bnckb {Clupea), Fisch., Fischer., Fischi. 0., IF. Preuss., 

 p. 172; HcKE, Var. Her., VII Ber. Comm. Deutschl M., 

 pp. 45 et GO; Mela, Vert. Finn., p. 354, tab. X; Day, 

 Fish. Gt. Brit., Irel., vol. II. p. 231, tab. GXXXIX, fig. 2; 

 MOii., HcKE, Fisch. Osts., p. 139; Lii.lj., Sv., Norg. Fisk., 

 vol. Ill, II. 97. 



Chijiea Schoneceldii, Kr., Voy. Gaim., 1. c.. Damn. Fi.'^ke, vol. 

 Ill, p. 193. 



Spratella pumila, Cuv., Val., 1. c., p. 357 + Meletta vul- 

 garis, p. 366; tabb. GOO et 603. 



The Sprat is in most resiJects so like the Herring 

 that a detailed description is unnecessary. It is, how- 



" According to Heincke. 

 ' Sometimes 8, according to Kroyer. 

 ■" Sometimes 7, according to Heincke. 

 '' With 88 nmi. as the average length. 

 ' With 120 mm. as the average length. 



ever, a much smaller tish, measuring at most about 17 

 cm. to the tips of the caudal lobes; but at this smaller 

 .size it has undergone changes of growth in many re- 

 spects more complete: it is, in a word, a more fully 

 developed Herring form. This appears, for instance, in 

 the length of the lower jaw, a measurement wliich we 

 have never found to exceed 53 % of the length of the 

 head, Avhereas in the Herring it has never proved less 

 than 55 % of the same. In this character the altera- 

 tions of growth run in decreasing percentages from the 

 young to the older specimens. 



In Swedish the Sprat has been distinguished from 

 the preceding species by the name of skarjjsill (Sharp 

 Herring), a I'eference to its most palpable characteristic 

 in most cases, the sharper ventral margin, with more 

 prominent s[)ines on the ventral plates; but this char- 

 acter is often illusory. A more trustworthy distinction 

 is the difference in tiic number of the ventral plates, 

 which in the Sprat does not exceed 35, 20 — 24 (cora- 

 monh' 22 — 23) in front of the ventral fins and 9 — 13 

 (commonly 11) lichiml them. 



The form of the liody is the same and shows the 

 same variations as in tlie Herring, being deeper or 

 shallower, but in the deeper form of Sprat {Vtiipca 

 Schonerehlii) the ventral profile is still more curved in 

 comparison with the dorsal. During the growth of the 

 body from a length of 6G mm. to one of 104 mm.'' 

 (from the tip of the snout to the end of the middle 

 caudal rays), the least depth of the body has proved 

 to be on an average 7'1 % of the length thereof; and 

 during growth from 108 — 147 mm.'' we have found 

 this average to be 8'1. 



The head shows the peculiarity that the eyes are 

 generally somewhat larger than in the Herring. Daring 

 ffi'owtli from a lena:th of 73 mm. to one of 147 mm. 



