ARTIFICIAL PROPAGATION OP BHAD 461 



the snout than the base of the caudal and is composed of 17 to 19 

 rays; the anal has 19 to 21 rays. The body is comparatively deep 

 and compressed, the depth varying with sex and spawning condition. 

 The head is also deep, with the free portion of the check deeper than 

 long. The jaws are about equal in length, the lower one fitting into 

 a deep notch on the tip of the upper in adult fish. Teeth are present 

 in the young, but are not found in the jaws of the adult. The gill 

 rakers are long, slender, and numerous, numbering from 93 to 120 

 on the first arch in adult fish. The numerous pinlike bones are 

 chiefly several series of intermuscular bones, which support the muscle 

 segments above the ribs. The peritoneum is white, and on the side 

 of each body wall lies a narrow strip of dark muscle. 



The shad may readily be distinguished from the other clupeoids 

 with which it is frequently associated in the rivers. In all of these, 

 except the hickory shad or hickory jack (Pomolohus mediocris), the 

 cheek is longer than deep. In the latter two species it is about as 

 long as deep, but the projecting jaw closely resembles that of the 

 shad in shape. The river herrings, or alewives, are much smaller 

 than the shad, have fewer and shorter gill rakers and larger eyes. 

 In the branch herring (P. 'pseudoliarengus) the peritoneum is pale, 

 while in the glut herring (P. sestivalis) it is black. 



Perhaps the most prominent and constant distinguishing marks, 

 particularly in the young, where other differences are frequently less 

 pronounced, are the dift'erences in the shape of the cheek and the 

 structure of the lower jaw. In the shad the cheek is deeper than 

 long, whereas in all other clupeoids it is at least as long as deep and 

 usually longer than deep. In the herrings the lower jaw is bent 

 sharply upward from its tip, forming a prominent angle midway of 

 its length, while in the shad this character is much less pronounced, 

 the line of the lower jaw being comparatively straight. 



The female shad is larger than the male, the average difference 

 in weight being more than a pound. The mature males taken in the 

 fisheries of the Atlantic coast weigh from 114 to 6 pounds, the aver- 

 age being about 3 pounds; the females usually weigh from 3 to 6 

 pounds, the average oeing about 43^2 pounds. The general average 

 for both sexes is between 3^ and 4 pounds. In the early history of 

 the fisheries shad weighing 11, 12, and even 14 pounds were reported, 

 but 9-pound shad are now very rare on the Atlantic coast and 10 

 pounds seem to be the maximum. In some seasons an unusual 

 number of large shad (7 to 9 pounds) appear in certain streams. On 

 the Pacific coast shad average a pound or more heavier than on the 

 Atlantic, occasionally attaining a weight of 14 pounds; many have 

 been reported weighing 9 to 12 pounds. 



RANGE AND ABUNDANCE 



The natural range of the shad is the Atlantic coast of North Amer- 

 ica, from Florida to Ne^^^"oundland, its center of abundance being 

 from North Carolina to Long Island, N. Y. In the early history of 

 the country its numbers excited astonishment. Nearly every river 

 on the Atlantic coast was invaded by immense schools, which in their 

 upward migiation furnished an ample supply of good food. 



Remarkable success has attended the stocking of the waters of the 

 Pacific coast with shad. In 1871, 12,000 shad fry from the Hudson 



