Fishes of the IVestern North Atlantic 275 



a small patch. Dorsal fin rather small, without a produced ray. Pelvic commonly 

 with 9 rays, rarely with only 8.* Vertebrae 45—57. 



Remarks. The very slender body and the presence of vomerine teeth distinguish 

 this genus from other genera of the western North Atlantic. 



Range. North Atlantic and North Pacific, ranging on the American side of the 

 Atlantic from North Carolina to Greenland and in Europe from the Strait of Gibraltar 

 to Spitsbergen. In the Pacific, the genus is represented from southern California to the 

 Aleutian Islands and across to Siberia and Japan. A single species occurs in the western 

 North Atlantic* The species generally occurs in schools, which are usually seen at or 

 rather near the shore. 



Clupea harengus Linnaeus 1758 



Atlantic Herring, Sea Herring, Herring 



Figures 66-68 



Study Material. At least 18 specimens, 75-270 mm TL, 63-224 mm SL, and 

 smaller specimens, including postlarvae; from Kings Creek (tributary to Tangier 

 Sound), Chesapeake Bay, Maryland; Ipswich River (estuary) and Woods Hole, Mas- 

 sachusetts; Sheepscot River and Eastport, Maine; St. Lawrence River; Nova Scotia; 

 New Brunswick; and Newfoundland. This American material was compared with 

 specimens from Norway and Sweden, and with specimens from the Pacific collected in 

 California, Oregon, and Alaska. 



Distinctive Characters. The following conspicuous field marks separate the post- 

 larval and adult Atlantic Herring from the shads {Alosa) and from representatives of 

 Pomolobus (alewives, hickory shad): the point of origin of its dorsal fin Is about midway 

 of its trunk (considerably farther forward in the others) ; its body is not as deep, a differ- 

 ence shown better in the Illustrations than by words; and the sharp midline of its belly 

 Is less strongly serrate. 



[Critical examination is required to distinguish the early stages of clupeoids of the 

 western North Atlantic, one from another. Larvae of other species with which the 

 Herring larva might be confused are the launce {Ammodytes), the so-called rock gunnel 

 {Pholis), the capelin {Mallotus), and the smelt {Osmerus). But the position of the anus, 

 about 83 "/o of the way back along the body, sets the larval Herring apart from all 

 of these (about 75 «/o of the way back in Mallotus and Osmerus., about 66 "/o of the 

 way back in Ammodytes and Pholis). — h. b. b.] 



Description. Proportional dimensions in per cent of standard length, and counts, 

 from specimens in Study Material, not including small specimens except for men- 

 tion of their much more slender body and fewer gill rakers; specimens 63-224 mm SL. 



S. Pelvics with 7 or 8 in South American species. — G. S. Myers. 



9. The genus Clupea in the present sense is also represented in Australian-New Zealand temperate waters and in 

 southern South America. Norman has reviewed the South American forms [102: 37). — G. S. Myers. 



i8» 



