25 THE EDIBLE FISHES OF NEW SOUTH WALES. 
In color it is dark blue, bluish-green, or greenish-brown 
along the upper surface, changing rather suddenly into the 
brilliant silver color of the sides. Along each side is a 
series of darker blotches, giving to the fish, when viewed from 
above, an appearance very similar to that of another impor- 
tant, though very different, species—the Common Mackerel. 
Curiously enough, too, small bodies of the pilchards are 
often found among Mackerel of equal size, and vice versa. 
Herring (Sardinella castelnau). 
PraTe V. 
This fish, like the preceding, is always with us in greater 
or lesser abundance, but at times makes its appearance in 
vast shoals. It is a comparatively short, deep-bodied fish, 
attaining a length of 8 or g inches. The eye is large and 
possesses a well-developed transparent fleshy lid, just as is 
seen in the common Sea Mullet and Yellow-tail. The teeth 
are very minute. The scales are large and highly deciduous. 
There is a large and simple air-bladder, this showing up 
silvery through the semi-transparent sides of the freshly- 
caught herring. 
As regards coloration, this fish is a very pretty little 
species. The upper surface is usually of a bluish-green, the 
sides being of a most brilliant silver, with, in certain lights, 
a sheen of gold. This golden sheen is still more apparent on 
the gill-covers or opercles. The irides are of a beautiful 
golden or golden-red tint. The fins are transparent, the tips 
of the dorsal fin and of the caudal lobes being black. 
The Herring is one of the fishes of the future as far as 
New South Wales is concerned, as at present practically no 
use is made of it. 
Freshwater Herring (Potamalosa nove-hollandia). 
This is another abundant New South Wales clupeid, 
occurring commonly in all of our eastern streams. It is 
rather an elongate fish, and attains commonly a length of 
from g to 10 inches; examples of a still larger size being 
occasionally obtained. 
