14 REPOET OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



tail," "yellow-tailed shad," and " green-tail" refer to tbe yellowish-green 

 tint of tbe caudal fin, observed only in Soatbern specimens. Tbe former 

 of tbese names has led to some confusion among our correspondents, 

 tbe same name being ajiplied in Georgia and Florida to a very different 

 fisb, Bairdiella ]i)unctata (Linn.) Gill. 



28. An allusion to the oily nature of the flesh is found in "fat-back," 

 a name in general use in tbe Southern States. This name is sometimes 

 applied in JSTortbamptou County, Virginia, to tbe mullet {Mugil Ihieatus). 

 In tbe last century it was used for tbe Alhula cojiorliynchus.* 



The conflict of names among the American representatives of tlie herring 



family. 



29. Tbe representatives of tbe herring family most abundant in the 

 ■waters of Great Britain are three — tbe shad {Alosa finta), the alewife 

 (Alosa vulgaris), and the herring {Clnpea harengus). Their names were 

 at an early date appropriated for representatives of the same family on 

 our own coast. The name " shad " is, from Maine to Florida, yielded 

 by common consent to our Alosa sapidissima, which, in many particulars, 

 resembles its namesake, though they "be bigger than the. English 

 Shaddes and fatter," as an early writer declares.f 



In tbe Southern States this fisb is sometimes called " white-shad," 

 to distinguish it from the Dorosoma Cepedianum, there known as tbe 

 "mud-shad" or "gizzard-shad." On tbe coast of Kew England, tbe 

 mattowocca or tailor-herring {Pomolohus mediocris) is sometimes called 

 tbe " bickory-sbad," and also the "sea-shad," under which name it is 

 often confounded with tbe true shad, which is known from recent invest- 

 igations to be frequently taken far out at sea in company with mackerel, 

 alewives, and menhaden. In the Bermudas, there being no large clu- 

 peoid fish, tbe same name has been for centuries applied to two species 

 which somewhat resemble it externally — Eucinostomus gula and Evxinos- 

 iomus Lcfroyi, Goode. 



Tbe " herring," or " English herring," of K'ew England north of Cape 

 Cod is identical with that of Great Britain, but at certain points in 

 Southern New England, such as New Bedford, this name is transferred 

 to Pomolohiis pseudoharengus, and on the Hudson Eiver tbe usage is 

 general, though the species is occasionally called tbe alewife. South 

 of tbe Hudson tbe name " herring" is universally used in connection 

 with this species of Pomolohus, and the allied Pomolohus mediocris or 

 "mattowocca," which is known as tbe "tailor-herring" or sometimes, 

 as in tbe Saint John's Eiver and about Cape Cod, as the " hickory-shad." 

 In the great lakes tbe name " herring" is also represented, being applied 

 to one of the whitefish family, the lake-herring [Argyrosomus clupei- 

 formis). 



To Pomolohus pseudoharengus tbe name "alewife" is commonly ap- 



* See Garden, in Corresiiondeuce of Liuupuus, -p. 335. 



t Now England's Prospect. By William Wood. London, 1634. 



