Fishes of the Western North Atlantic 323 



Commercial Importance. Hickory Shad are of minor importance as foodfish, mainly 

 because the meat is bony and is considered inferior in flavor. Their value is somewhat 

 higher in North Carolina than elsewhere, because they are taken there during the 

 winter when other fish are scarce. In 1940 or 1941, the following catches were reported: 

 New England (all reports for Rhode Island and Connecticut), 25,800 pounds; the 

 Middle Atlantic States (all reports for New Jersey), 4,400 pounds; the Chesapeake 

 Bay states, 196,200 pounds, of which 22,000 pounds were taken in Maryland and 

 174,200 pounds in Virginia; and the South Atlantic states (all of which contributed), 

 371,500 pounds, of which 335,900 pounds were listed for North Carolina. It is 

 evident, then, that the fishery is centered in Virginia and North Carolina. In the 

 United States (1940, 1945, 1950-1953), catches have ranged between o and 25,800 

 pounds for southern New England, 200 and 4,400 pounds for the Middle Atlantic 

 states, 86,000 and 264,000 pounds for Chesapeake Bay, and 273,000 and 970,000 

 pounds for the South Atlantic states. 



Method of Fishing. The commercial fish are caught principally with seines and pound 

 nets, the smaller quantities with gill and fyke nets. The fishery is not intense enough 

 to affect greatly the abundance of these fish in nature. They take the hook occasionally 

 and offer some sport in the spring, at least at Little Falls on the Potomac River. Anglers 

 trolling for striped bass [Roccus saxatilis) and mackerel {Scomber) landed a number of 

 Hickory Shad oft" the Merrimack River, Massachusetts, in 1932. 



Range. The range of Hickory Shad extends from Florida to Maine. They are re- 

 corded for Campobello Island, New Brunswick {^2: 47), but no record of their oc- 

 currence south of the St. Johns River in Florida has been brought to my attention. 

 Though rare north of Cape Cod, they are apparently more numerous in southern New 

 England than in the Middle Atlantic States and are most abundant in Virginia and 

 North Carolina. ^2 



Synonyms and References: 



Clupea mediocris Mitchill, Rep. in part on Fishes of New York, 1814: 20 (orig. descr.; type local, presumably 



New York Cit)'; type lost); Mitchill, Trans. Lit. philos. Soc. N. Y., j, 181 5: 450 (descr., New York 



Bay along Staten Island); McDonald in Goode, et a/.. Fish. Fish. Industr. U. S., 1(3), 1884: 607, 



pis. 216A, 216B (discus., names, distr., abund., econ. import., migr.). 

 Clupea mattowaca Mitchill, Trans. Lit. philos. Soc. N. Y., j, 181 5: 451 (orig. descr.; type local. Long Island, 



New York; commonly caught in autumn, size). 

 Atosa mattotvacca DeKay, N. Y. Fauna, Pt. 4, Fishes, 1842: 260, pi. 40, fig. 127 (descr., New York; fig. 



shows no projecting lower jaw, though descr. says "lower jaw longest"). 

 Alosa lineata Storer, Proc. Boston Soc. nat. Hist., 2, 1848: 242 (orig. descr.; type local. Massachusetts); Storer, 



Fish. Mass., 1867: 162, pi. 27, fig. 2 (descr., when and how taken, food value). 

 Clupea mattowocca Giinther, Cat. Fish. Brit. Mus., 7, 1869: 438 (refs., descr.). 

 Pomolobus mediocris Uhler and Lugger in Rep. Comm. Fish. Md., ed. i, 1876: 159; ed. 2, 1876: 136 (descr., 



synon., Potomac R., size); Jordan and Evermann, Bull. U. S. nat. Mus., 47(1), 1896: 425; 47(4), 



1900: fig. 188 (descr., range); 47(3), 1898: 2810 (correc. of earlier acct.); Smith, Bull. U. S. Fish. 



32. A listing of this herring among the clupeoid fishes of Brazil {25: 190) was based on a specimen 170 mm long from 

 an "ancient collection," without mention of the place of collection. The description offered suits P. mediocris quite 

 well. However, as this herring does not seem to occur on the Adantic coast in semitropical waters, as in southern 

 Florida, one is justified in questioning whether it actually was taken in Brazil. 



