332 Memoir Sears Foundation for Marine Research 



occur., common names); Fowler, Rep. N. J. St. Mus., 2, 1905: 98, figs, (male and female fig., dist. char., 

 local occur., synon.). 

 Pomolobus sp. Pearson, Invest. Reps. U. S. Bur. Fish. (1932), 1 (10), 1936: 18 (in trawl catch). 



Doubtful References: 



Clupea fasciata LeSueur, J. Acad. nat. Sci. Philad., 1(2), 1818: 233 (orig. descr.; type local. Sandwich, 

 Massachusetts). 



Alosa lyrannus De Kay (not of Latrobe), N. Y. Fauna, Pt. 4: Fishes, 1842: 258, pi. 13, fig. 38 (descr., occur, 

 along coast; plainly not menhaden; descr. and fig. suggest P. aestivalis). 



Alosa cyanonoton Storer, Proc. Boston Soc. nat. Hist., 2, 1 848 : 242 (orig. descr.; type local, presumably Massachu- 

 setts); Storer, Fish. Mass., 1867: 161, pi. 27, fig. i (descr., names, occur.). 



Pomolobus pseudoharengus (Wilson) 1 8 1 1 



Grayback,'' Gray Herring, White Herring, Branch Herring, Bigeye Herring, 

 Freshwater Herring, Sawbelly, Alewife, Kyak, Gaspereau 



Figures 76, 77, 82, 83 



Study Material. A total of 65 or more specimens, 30-330 mm TL, 23.5-268 mm 

 SL, from Cape Breton, Nova Scotia; St. Andrews Bay, New Brunswick; Freeport and 

 Portland, Maine; Falmouth and Woods Hole, Massachusetts; Noank, Connecticut; 

 Long Island, New York; off Wildwood, New Jersey; and various localities in the 

 Chesapeake Bay area. 



Distinctive Characters. See Relationships under aestivalis, p. 330. 



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

 based on 65 or more specimens, 23.5—268 mm SL. 



Body: depth ^2-S-2,S-S- 

 Caudal peduncle: depth 8.5—12. 

 Head: length 22.6-34.8. 

 Snout: length 4.55—7.6. 

 Eye: diameter 5.0—12. 

 Interorbital: width 3.45-7.3. 

 Maxillary: length 10.5— 15. 

 Pelvic fin: length 1 0.4-1 5.8. 

 Pectoral fin: length 14.6-22.6. 



Scales: 42-50. 



Ventral scutes: 30—36. 



Gill rakers: on lower limb 38—43 in 



adults (occasionally 44). 

 Fin rays: dorsal 15-19; anal 17-21; 



pectoral 13—16. 

 Vertebrae: 46-50 (36 specimens). 



Body compressed, its greatest thickness usually about 2.75 in its depth, the depth 

 2.8-4.25 in SL. 



33. Grayback has been chosen as the leading name for P . pseudoharengus and blueback for P. aesti'valis because these 

 names in a measure are descriptive, distinctive, and are perhaps understood by more people within the range of 

 the species than any others. Alewife certainly is not distinctive, as it sometimes includes both species mentioned, 

 and in some places it is applied to the menhaden, Bre'voortia. Branch herring and glut herring are distinctive in 

 the Chesapeake Bay area, but these names are not well known northward. However, alewife is used in subsequent 

 pages to include both of these species in citing commercial statistics, for the species are not separated in the market, 

 where they are sold either as alewives or as river herring. [The American Fisheries Society recommends "Ale- 

 wife" for pseudoharengus. — v. h. o.] 



