166 MALACOP. ABDOM. HERRING FAMILY. 



cause them to quit the places where the practice 

 is followed ; it is therefore strictly forbidden." * 



(Sp. 140.) O. Leachii. Leach's Herring. The 

 diversities observed among the Herrings which fre- 

 quent different parts of our coasts, in size, flavour, 

 time of spawning &c., has long since led to the sup- 

 position that there exist more than one species, or 

 at all events well marked varieties. This opinion was 

 entertained, among others, by Dr. Leach, but he 

 never published any account of the species he re- 

 garded as distinct. In 1831, Mr. Yarrell obtained 

 specimens of a Herring from the fishermen engaged 

 in taking Sprats at the mouths of the Thames and 

 Medway, which he described as a new species in the 

 Zoological Journal, t naming it after the distin 

 guished Naturalist above referred to, by whom it 

 was probably first observed. The average length of 

 C. Leachii is seven inches; that of the common 

 Herring from ten to twelve inches. The body is 

 much deeper and less elongated than that of the 

 common Herring, the dorsal fin not placed so far be- 

 hind the centre of gravity as in that species. The 

 number of fin rays is also dissimilar, but that is so 

 variable a character that little dependence, at least 

 in this family, can be placed upon it. The number 

 of vertebrae in C. Leachii is fifty-four, in C. haren- 

 gus fifty-six. The former is found heavy with roe 

 at the end of January, not depositing it till the 

 middle of February. Mr. Yarrell infers, from re- 

 peated observations during the winter months, that 



* British Fishes, ii. 187. t Vol. v. pp. 279 and 382. 



