977 



Inter or earlier spring-spawning, perhaps even of a 

 winter-spawning, the same year. From the South of 

 England we nvv told liy llni.nswniiTH" that the true 

 snawning-inontli of tlic Spi-at in the neighboui'ing wa- 

 ters is Jamiarv, hut tliat this tisii also spawns (luring 

 tlie summer; and he assumes, with reference botii to 

 tlie Sprat and the Pilchard, tliat the winter-spawning 

 is performed near land, the summer-spawning at the 

 surface in deei>er water. Iliit oif the coast of Bohusliin 

 the Sprat seems to l)c in a lircediiig condition in 'Inly or 

 .\ugust as well, for at Stromstad ^Ialm took "females 

 almost read)- to spawn", on the 15th of July, 18^5'. 



Of the hatching of the Sprat's eggs we are igno- 

 rant; we do not even know whether the ova float at 

 the surface, or sink, like tliose of the Herring, to the 

 iiottom. But the fry have been described both by j\L\r.M 

 and Heincke, and differ, according to the latter, from 

 Herring-fry of the same size in the orange tone of 

 their coloration, the greater depth and thickness of the 

 body, the earlier development of the ventral fins, the 

 earlier prolongation of the air-ldadder, and the smaller 

 number of the vertebne. 



After spawning the Sprat makes its wav into the 

 island-belt, where it .soon recruits its .strength and puts 

 on tiesli, in this respect easily surpassing the young 

 Herrings. In the inner island-belt of Stockholm the 

 mass of Sprats begin to appear in August. "Till Oc- 

 tober Sprats are occasionally taken, after whicii time 

 tiiey again disappear. When they come, they are ra- 

 ther lean; but towards autumn they grow fatter" (SuN- 

 DEVAll). During the same season, however. Sprats are 

 caught in the outer shallo\\s and in the outer fringe of 

 the i.sland-belt. Even in winter, as at the time of 

 writing (March, 1893), Sprats are plentiful among the 

 consignments of Stromming exposed for sale in Stock- 

 holm. A successful Sprat-fishery is also carried on 

 among the Smaland Islands off Krakvik', but we have 

 no information of any such fishery farther south on 

 the east coast of Swpden. The chief Sprat-fishery of this 

 country belongs to Boinisliin, especially to the neigh- 

 bourhood of Fjellbacka. "Here the Sprat puts in an 

 Hppearance at Michaelmas, and remains until some time 



after Twelfth Day. I'p to Twelfth Day, or at least 

 during the weeks just before Twelfth Day, it swims in 

 slioais l)v itself: but afterwards it is accompanied by 

 young Herrings, generally two years old" (A. W. Malm). 

 It is said to come in lioth north and south of tiie 

 Weather Islands, straight from the sea (the Skager 

 Rack). But shoals of Sprats sometimes arrive later in 

 the winter, as in 1892, wlien tliis fish was taken on the 

 south coast of Boiiuslan during February and March 

 (;\. H. Malm). In i-",ng!and too the main body of tlie 

 S]>rat army lies nearer land during winter. 



The Sprat-fishery has much in common with the 

 Herring-fishery, and is carried on both with sJcotar (fine- 

 meshed nets) and seines. In Bohusliln the annual take 

 was officially stated during recent years as follows: 



1888 1,900 hectolitres, valued at £l,373, 



1889 4,270 „ „ „ £2,176, 



1890 2,550 „ „ „ £2,077, 



1891 .3,803 „ ,, „ £4,062. 



From these Sjn'ats, wiiieh they can procure fresii, 

 the inhabitants of BohusUin prepare the best quality of 

 their Anchories, a kind of Pickled Herring, not to Ije 

 confounded with the true Anchovy, which is a rare fish 

 in Sweden. But a considerable proportion of the Sprats 

 thus preserved in BohusliSn comes salted from Norway, 

 where the annual take, according to Collett, sometimes 

 exceeds 100,000 hectolitres. In Norway and England 

 too Sprats are prepared for food in the same wa)'; and 

 according to Day, three million tins of Sprats, pickled in 

 a similar manner as the anchovies of the west coast of 

 France, are annually im])orted into England. In Ger- 

 many and in certain parts of Scotland the Si^rat is 

 smoked. This is the method employed in curing the 

 well-known Kieler-Sproifeu. Mild smoked S])ra1s in 

 oil are not inferior to Sardines. 



The Sprat suffers chiefly from the ravages of tlie 

 same enemies as the Herring. But its eyes are attacked 

 b)' a parasitic crustacean, Lenueonema momUaris. This 

 Penellid shines at night, and to this origin Day ascribes 

 a sui)position common among English fishermen, that 

 th(> Sprat-shoal is often guided and lighted on its way 

 b^• "lanthorn Sin'ats". 



" Deep Sea Fishing and Fishing-Boats, pp. 133 — 135. 



'' Gt. Intern. Fish. Exhib. London 1883, Sweden, Spec. Catal., p. 170. 



' Intern. Fischerei-Ausst. Berlin 1880, Schwed. Catal., Spec. Th., p. 25. 



