ICHTHYOLOGY. 



235 



Classifica- 

 tion — Ma- 

 lacopteri. 



Sub-Order III.— MALACOPTEROUS ABDOMINALS. 



CLUPEOIDS OR IIEHRING FAJI.LY. 



The species of this family are so numerous, and many of 

 them are so much aUke, that much confusion prevailed 

 respecting those described by tlie older authors and the 

 many nominal ones recently introduced into our lists by 

 modern ichthyologists who were not in circmnstances that 

 enabled them to profit by the examination of specimens 

 preserved in rich museums. M. Valenciennes has thrown 

 a flood of light into the darkness that previously existed ; 

 and it is on his labours that we almost solely rely in our 

 notices of the families described in the Histoire dcs Poissoiis, 

 subsequent to the death of his ilhistrious predecessor, 

 Baron Cuvier. He has made use of the varieties of den- 

 tition, so great in this family, to characterize his groups ; also 

 of the position of the ventrals and of the length of the anal. 

 The comparative length of the mandible has also been taken 

 into consideration by him ; in most it projects beyond the 

 snout ; a second group is characterized by the snout, owing 

 to the elongation of the nasal, projecting beyond the pre- 

 maxillaries ; which, then, instead of' crossing the upper edge 

 of the orifice of the mouth transversely, descend on the 

 sides. In some, the maxillary is prolonged far beyond the 

 corner of the mouth. There are diversities also in the fins : 

 in certain species the anal and caudal are united ; and in 

 some, a greater or smaller number of the rays of the pec- 

 toral are prolonged into slender-jointed filaments ; others 

 again have the anal and caudal united, while the form of the 

 mouth varies. We can notice only a few of the species of 

 this family. 



Clupea hareyigtis, Lin. (The Herring.) The investiga- 

 tion of the habits of this fish has not received that attention 

 which its importance as an article of food to the inhabitants 

 of this country demands ; and there are several circ\nn- 

 stances respecting its economy which still require farther 

 examination. It is generally believed that the Herring in- 

 habits, in winter, the depths of the Arctic Ocean, or other 

 seas in northern latitudes, and that during the rest of the 

 year it makes migrations southwards. In summer and 

 autumn it appears on the north and west coasts of Europe 

 in immense shoals, and about the same season it arrives 

 at some parts of the coast of America and Asia. It has 

 been supposed that those coming from the north divide into 

 two detachments, one of which proceeds along Newfoimd- 

 land to America, the other along Norway to the south of 

 Europe ; and that one subdivision of this second detach- 

 ment goes up the Baltic, while the other proceeds along 

 Great Britain, Ireland, Germany, and France, as far as the 

 western coast of Spain. 



This is the description of the annual migrations of the 

 Herring given by Pennant ; but some doubts have been en- 

 tertained as to its accuracy, from the circumstances, — \st. 

 That while in some places the Herrings do not make their 

 appearance for years, in others they are taken in abundance 

 all the year round ; and, 2d, That they have never been 

 observed on their return northwards. Other naturalists 

 suppose that they come merely from the deep into shallow 

 water during the spawning season, and that in so doing 

 they do not make any very lengthened journeys. In truth, 

 we are not as yet furnished with sufficient data to decide 

 the question ; but, in the meantime, we do not feel in- 

 clined entirely to reject the generally received opinion, 

 that the Herrings migrate fi-om north to south in summer 

 and autumn. 



In migrating, the Herrings proceed in vast troops, — so 

 great, indeed, that the sea is sometimes covered with them 

 for miles, and that they liave even been known to be 

 stranded or crushed in immense quantities in confined 

 bays, or when thrown by the wind or by currents upon 



lacopteri. 



the shore. The shoals are said to bs generally preceded Classifica- 

 sometimes for days, by one or two m ties. The largest *'°° — •*'*" 

 generally go first, to act in some measure as guides ; and 

 as they proceed onwards, immense numbers fall an easy 

 and unresisting prey to rapacious birds, or to their own not 

 less rapacious kindred of the sea. 



It is generally believed that the Herrings captured far 

 north are larger, fatter, and of a better quality than those 

 of the south ; and for this reason, in the month of July, our 

 fishermen go out to meet the shoals as far as Orkney and 

 Shetland. The greatest number are taken on the coasts 

 of Norway and Sweden, in the first of which countries it 

 is said that about 400 millions are taken in one year, and 

 sometimes 20 millions in a single fishery. The inhabitants 

 in the neighbo\irhood of Gothenburg, in Sweden, take as 

 many as 700 millions in a year. Herrings are fished also 

 in great quantity in this country, Germany, France, Hol- 

 land, the United States, and Kamtschatka. 



The average size of the Herring is stated to be about ten 

 inches. According to Dr Knox, the females are consider- 

 ably larger than the males ; the largest female he found on 

 the east coast of Scotland measuring eleven inches, the 

 largest male nine inches and a half. It does not appear to 

 be precisely known at what age they attain their full size. 



Considerable doubt has at all times prevailed regarding 

 the food of the Herring. They were generally stated to 

 live on small crabs and fishes, and on a minute crustaceous 

 animal named by Fabricius Aslacus liarengum. But this 

 was chiefly matter of supposition ; for most practical fisher- 

 men described the stomach of the fish when in good state 

 as quite empty, or, at most, as containing a little brownish 

 mucus ; and it has appeared difficult to reconcile the fact, 

 that it is when the stomach appears thus empty that the 

 fish is in its best condition, viz., fullest, with the finest fla- 

 vour, and most capable of keeping, — with the notion, that 

 when it appears upon our coasts it has quitted its natural 

 feeding ground, and has been longer and longer in a state 

 of starvation the more southern the latitude in which it is 

 found. Dr Knox's interesting observation, that the prin- 

 cipal food of the Salmon and Vendace consisted of minute 

 crustaceous animals, led him to examine carefully with the 

 microscope the brownish matter contained in the alleged 

 empty stomachs of the Herring ; and he then formed the 

 opinion, that this matter consisted of the debris of a very 

 minute entomostracous animal. 



It is well known that the Herrings caught upon the east 

 coast of Scotland are much inferior to those taken on the 

 west coast, and more particularly to those of Loch Fine, 

 and other lochs of Argyleshire. Dr Knox states that the 

 Herrings taken near the Firth of Forth in July are foul, or 

 are engaged in spawning, while those of the west coast, in 

 the same season, have the organs of re])roduction very 

 slightly developed ; and he conjectures that that species 

 of crustaceous animal which forms their appropriate and 

 most favourite food may exist abundantly in the bays on 

 the west coast of Scotland, and either not at all, or not in 

 sufficient quantities, along our eastern coasts It appears 

 to be chiefly after these fishes have been absent for some 

 time from their proper feeding places that they eat marine 

 worms and small fishes ; and when so feeding, they lose 

 much of their flavour, and run rapidly into putrefiiction 

 after being captured. The time of spawning seems to vary 

 considerably, both in the same and in different districts ; 

 so that we may have spring, summer, and autumn herrings, 

 as we know they have in some parts of the Baltic. Dur- 

 ing the spawning season they are seen to rub their bellies 

 against the rocks or sand. As many as 6S,606 eggs have 

 been counted in one female. The young do not accom- 

 pany the larger herrings in their migrations. M. Valen- 

 ciennes, after reviewing many facts collected by different 

 observers, comes to the conclusion that the Herrings are 



