51 



landsch Diep had already a len^th of 22 milliiu. In the Zuiderzee, 

 however. often much smaller ones (of 15 — 22 millim.) were taken. 

 On the contrary larvae smaller than 15 millim. arè scarcely 

 represented under the fish I coUected — which , probahly , is in 

 consequenee of the little fish preferriug to stay in very shallow 

 water where I coiild iiot follow them. As soon as the little smelt- 

 larvae have a length of 13 to 15 m.m. the oval swira-bladder 

 niakes it easy to recoguize them — even with the uaked eye oue 

 eau distinguish them in a group of herring-larvae. 



W. P. van den Eude, who published in 1847 some observa- 

 tious on the smelt, tells us that he investigated on March 21 a 

 dozen specimens of these fish caught in the IJsel near Zutphen. 

 He fouud in the stomachs of these fishes neither any solid nor 

 fluid matter: au observatiou quite in accordance with those of 

 Barfurth and Mieseher Ruesch who studied the salmon. Those 

 smelts, however, which stay in the Zuiderzee do not observe this 

 measure of temperance: I opened in April '88 a female smelt of 

 158 millim. length, weighing 30 gram; it was not yet quite 

 ripe, its ovary having a weight of 4 gram. The stomach was 

 over-filled with food and contained remains of shrimps and a smaller 

 smelt of 73 millim. length. The same observation was repeated 

 in March '89, when several very nearly ripe female fishes were 

 opened: one contained a Gobius of 45 m.m. length, the second 

 a very large shrimp, the third two well-developed shrimps and so 

 on. These fishes were so ripe, that at least part of the eggs were 

 fit to be shed and to be fertilised. 



In the Baltic a larger smelt of 15 — 30 centimeters in length, 

 which prefers to live in the sea and only in the spring-months 

 enters the river for the purpose of spawning is distinguished from 

 a smaller one 10 — 15 centimeter long, which iuhabits the Hafs 

 and lakes shut olï from the sea the whole year round. The latter 

 is also easily known by its strong flavour which resembles the 

 smell of spoiled gherkins. I do not believe there is reason to dis- 

 tinguish on the Dutch coast two such races of smelts. There are 

 probably small diöerences between the smelts of the Hollandsch 



