﻿340 HISTORY OF THE FISHES OF MASSACHUSETTS. 



The fin rays are as follows : — D. 17. P. 18. V. 10. A. 17. C. 20. 



Length, ten inches. 



Remarks. This species is called " Blue-back " and " Kionk," by the fishermen at 

 Provincetown. It is seldom met with more than ten inches in length. A few make 

 their appearance in May ; they are then quite small and scattered ; they are numer- 

 ous before the 10th of June. They are occasionally taken, in small numbers, in 

 mackercl-ncts ; but few only are thus captured, as their size allows them to smm 

 through the meshes of the net. They remain along the coast for only a short time. 

 Some years since, tKey were found in much larger numbers than at present, and a 

 hundred barrels full of them would be taken at the drag of a net. They are used as 

 bait for mackerel, and are worth about a dollar a barrel for that purpose. Captain At- 

 wood thinks this species is never found in rivers. 



This fish is very fat, almost too much so to eat ; and, appearing at a season when 

 other favorite species are so common, no use is made of it as an article of food. 



Massachusetts, Stoker. ^ 



Alosa lixeata. Store): 



The Hickorj/Shad. 

 (Plate XXVH. Fig. 2.) 

 Ahsa lineata, Storee, Proc. Bost. Soc. Nat. Hist., ii. p. 242. 



Color. The sides of this fish are silvery, with six or eight indistinct bluish bands 

 running from the head to the tail, which are light-colored after death. The opercula 

 are cupreous ; the pectoral and caudal fins are of a dark-broAvn color, the pectorals 

 being fuliginous beneath ; the anal and ventral fins are nearly white. 



Description. Body elongated, compressed. The head is equal in length to about one 

 fifth the entire fish ; the lower jaw is the longer; the chin is prominent; the eyes are 

 large and circular, their diameter equal to about one sixth the length of the head ; 

 the space between the eyes, from the nostrils to the occiput, is translucent. The 

 opercula and preopercula are beautifully striated ; the interopercle is but slightly 

 roughened. The abdomen is serrated ; about fifteen serrations between the ventral and 

 anal fins, more strongly marked than those anterior to the ventrals. The scales are 

 large and rounded ; their concealed portion is covered with concentric striee, and delicate 

 radiations are seen passing to their circumference upon their exposed portions. 



The dorsal fin arises upon the anterior portion of the body ; its height is equal to two 

 thirds its length. 



