LII— CLUFEIDI^. 

 BREYOORT]A,Gill. 



B. menhaden. 



!-Wife» or Menhaden. 



Body elongated, compressed. Its depth across, at the base 

 of the pectorals, less than one-fifth the length of the fish; 

 length of the head more than one-third the length of it. 

 Gill covers very large; eyes round and moderately in size; 

 gape of month very large. Upper part of body greenish- 

 brown, darker upon the top of tlie head and at the snout; 

 upper part of the sides in the living fish rose-colored, and 

 mottled with blue, which disappear in death ; abdomen silvery; 

 a black spot, more or less distinct, upoti the shoulders; whole 

 surface of the fish iridescent. Length, 10 to 14 inches. 



Fin-rays:— D. 19; P. 15—17: V. G; A. 18—22; C. 20. 



B. menhaden,, Mitch. Lit. cl- Phil. Trans. New York, I. p. 

 453, pi. 5, fig. 7. 



Alosa menhaden, Storer, Ee})0!-t Fish. Massach. ]>. 117; De- 

 Kay, New York Faun., Fish. p. 25'J, pi. 21, fig. 60; Ayres, 

 Best. Journ. Nat. Hist. IV. \\. 275; Storer, Mem. Am. Ac. 

 VI. p. 337, pi. 2C., fig. 3. 



Brevoortm menhaden, Gill. Proc. Ac. Nat. Sc. Piiilad. 1861, 

 p. 37. 



Common on the Atlantic coast of Worcester county and 

 even entering Sinepuxent Bay, also in vast shoals in Chesa- 

 peake Bay, particularly about the mouths of the great rivers 

 of both peninsulas. They have been extensively used for 

 manure by the farmers living near the coast, where they are 

 caught by untold thousands in the lai'ge seines. 



Acad. Coll. S. I. 



ALOSA, (iiv. 



A. sapidissima. 



Body oblong, compressed. Head equal in length to one- 

 sixth of the entire fish; the greatest depth of the body exceeds 

 the length of the head. Covered throughout with large, 

 deciduous scales, with the exception of the head, which is 

 naked. The upper jaw with a deep notch in the centre. 

 Upper portion of the sides cupreous; lower portion silvery, 



