VIII.— CONTRIBUTIONS TOWARDS A MORE CORRECT KNOWL- 

 EDGE OF THE HERRING'S MODE OF LIFE. 



By Axel Ljuxgman. * 



The following may be considered as a continuation of my former treatise 

 " On the propagation and growth of the herring and smell-herring," l 

 and will comprise a resume of all we know so far regarding the general 

 condition and mode of life of the herring, and its bearing on the her- 

 ring fisheries on the daily life and the yearly and secular migrations of 

 the herring. 2 



In compiling this treatise I have consulted my own experience and 

 all the old literature on the subject which was accessible, and likewise 

 the information which I have gathered from many a conversation with 

 fishermen. In going over all the literature on the subject I have met 

 with many difficulties, as the peculiarities in the herring's mode of life 

 are often described in provincial terms which are sometimes unintelli- 

 gible. By publishing this resume I hope to have in some measure ob- 

 viated this difficulty. 



For comparison's sake, I shall also give a few observations on the 

 small-herring (Clupea sprattus L.), concerning which much less is known, 

 but whose mode of life in many respects agrees with that of the herring. 



The food of the herring belongs exclusively to the animal kingdom, 

 but varies a great deal in different seas and during different seasons. 

 It chiefly consists of small crustaceans, especially of thecopepod species, 

 but also includes worms, young fish, roe, &c, and in some i>laces the 

 larvse of gnats, &c. In fact, the herring devours any small aquatic 

 animals which it can get, and dees not even spare its own offspring. 

 Boeck and L. Agassiz have said that the character of the herring's teeth 

 proves that it is not confined to any special kind of food. 



As in many places herrings are principally caught during the spawn- 

 ing-season, when, as is well known, they do not eat much, the idea has, 

 especially in former times, been quite prevalent among fishermen that 

 the herring lived on nothing else but water, 3 an idea which is found in 



* Axel Ljuxgman, Bidrag till Ednncdommen om alliens lefnadsforhdllandcn. Copen- 

 hagen, 1880. [Translated by Herman Jacobson. J 



l Nordlck Tidsskrlft for Fiskeri, V., pp. 193-194. 



2 Compare my treatise : " Eortfattad framstallning af den nutida Ednnedoman om all- 

 iens gang ocJi flyttningar samt dessas berornde af physikaliska och hiologiska forhdllanden," in 

 ''Bohns lans hafsfisken och deretcnskapli(Ja]lafsflskeundersoknivgarna, , ' IIGoteborg, 1878. 



3ii Ex puro aquce elcmcnto vivit, sicut salumandra ex igne." — Another explanation of 

 the origin of this idea has been given by Neucrantz (De harengo, p. 28). 



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