CATALOGUE OF VERTEBRATES. 687 



rays, 19; anal rays, 20; no teeth; ventral plates, 20 + 12; 

 length, 12 to 18 inches. Very abundant on our southern 

 coast ; spawns in the sea ; the young canned as sardines ; adults 

 used for oil and manure. 



Family DOROSOMATID^. 



Gizzard Shads. 



Body short, deep, much compressed, covered with thin, cycloid, 

 deciduous scales ; belly sharp edged, serrated ; head naked, short ; 

 mouth small, inferior, oblique ; no teeth ; maxillary in two pieces, 

 forming only a small part of jaw ; no lateral line ; anal fin long and 

 low ; caudal forked ; stomach like a fowl's gizzard, 



DOROSOMA, Raf. 



(Chatoessus, Cuv.) 

 D. cepedianum, Le S. {ellipticus.) Gizzard Shad. Hickory Shad. 



Silvery ; bluish above ; young with shoulder spots ; dorsal 

 with last ray filamentous; lower lobe of caudal the longer. 

 Dorsal rays, 12; anal rays, 31; scutes, 17 + 12; length, 15 

 inches. Abundant along our southern shore. Handsome, but 

 not valuable for food. 



" Generally preceding the ' shad ' in its passage up the river, 

 this large but worthless species appears in greater or less num- 

 bers, and entering the various creeks, creates quite a commotion 

 among the juvenile fishermen who may chance to come across 

 them. Occasionally the ' gizzard shad ' is carried by a freshet 

 into inland streams, usually having very small outlets, and thus 

 imprisoned they thrive very well. A pond near Trenton was in 

 1857 thus stocked with them, and is now full of specimens, 

 some weighing five pounds apiece. Along the coast they are 

 not abundant, and like the true ' shad,' they appear to come from 

 the South, to spawn in the fresh waters of the northern rivers." 



