Engralis. fishes. MALACOPTERYGIOUS. 183 



Length about a foot. Dusky green above ; silvery beneath. Scales deci- 

 duous. D. 17. p. 17. V. 9 Inhabits the deep water. When the spawning 



season approaches, herrings are found near the shore, in bays and estuaries. 

 Their migrations to and from the Arctic Circle, given in detail by Pennant, 

 have no existence in nature. The fry or sill enter the mouths of rivers, and 

 have even been caught with a trout-fly. 



52. C. Pilcardus. Pilchard. — Anal fin about 17 rayed. The 

 dorsal fin placed in the centre of gravity. 



Alosa minor, Merr. Pin. 185, SM. Scot. 23 — Harengus minor, Will. 

 Ich. 223. Perm. Brit. Zool. iii. 343 ; S, Crue-herring. — Common on 

 the Cornish coast ; rare in Scotland. 

 Length about a foot. The body is rounder than in the herring ; the snout 

 and under jaw shorter; back more elevated; and the scales larger. D. 18. 

 p. 16. v. 8, c. 32 — This fish appears in vast shoals off the Cornish coasts, 

 about July. Like the herring, however, they are capricious in their move- 

 ments. 



The fry of the hen-ing and pilchard are confounded together under the epi- 

 thet Sprat. The position of the dorsal fin, in reference to gravity, furnishes, 

 however, an obvious mark of distinction. 



53. C. Alosa. Shad. — Snout bifid. The mucous ducts on 

 the gill-covers elegantly branched. 



Alosa seu Clupea, Merr. Pin. 190. Will. Ich. 227 — C. Alosa, Limu Syst. 



i. 523. Penn. Brit. Zool. iii. 348. Flem. Phil. Zool. tab. iii. f. 1 



£, Mother of Herrings ; S, Elf Herring. — In the sea and large rivers. 

 Length about 18 inches. Above greenish-black; sides and belly silverv. 

 The under jaw longest. D. 20. (the first four short and simple) P. IG. v. 9. 

 A. 21. Tail greatly forked, and on each side a large scale, with its mesial 

 edge free. I have taken fine young herrings, about 3 inches in length, from 

 the stomach of this fish. The shad leaves the sea in May, and enters the 

 rivers for the purpose of spawning. It is not unfrequently taken by the sal- 

 mon-nets. The fry is well known in the Thames by the name of ^Viiite Bait, 

 appearing near Blackwall and Greenwich during the month of July. 



Gen. XXV. ENCRASICHOLUS. Anchovy— Maxiilaries 

 long and straight. Belly smooth. 



54. E. Encrasicolus. — Dorsal and ventral fins opposite. 

 Will. Ich. app. 27. Ray, Syn. Pise. 107 — Clupea En. Linn. Syst.i. 523. 



Penn. Brit. Zool. iii. 347. Don. Brit. Fishes, tab. 4 In the sea and 



a lew of the English rivers. 



Length about 6 inches. Back green, semi-pellucid ; sides and bellv silvery 

 Upper jaw produced. D. 15, P. 15, v. 7, A. 14, C. 24. Considerable quail- 

 titles are imported from the Mediterranean, in a pickled state. 



The claims of the Lepisosieus osseus (which may readilv be recognized by 

 the osseous scales with which it is protected), to rank as a British fish, are 

 rety doubtful. Berkenhout inserts it in his Synopsis, p. 81. with the habitat 

 Sussex coast ; and Stewart, in his Elements, vol. i. 374. intimates its occur 

 rence in the Frith of Forth. 



