THE WHITEBAIT. 141 



any fishes. Mr. Buckland mentions one which he 

 examined, which contained 595,200 eggs. Pikes 

 fight desperately with each other. 



The Whitebait (Clupea alba) is a problem to the 

 ichthyologist. Many persons say they are young 

 herring, but others say they are the fry of a variety of 

 species ; for, on examining a quantity of these small 

 creatures, they are found very various in appearance, 

 and evidently belong to very different species, though 

 all called, by the fisherman and fishmonger, White- 

 bait. When larger fish are caught among the White- 

 bait, they are rejected and usually thrown again into 

 the water. 



THE WHITEBAIT. 



Sticklebacks are found among the variety of 

 young fish ; those called by the fishermen " the 

 rooshians," are young weever fish, and are like a 

 colourless jelly. Polliwigs are the young of the spotted 

 goby. Mr. Buckland also discovered among the 

 Whitebait the young of other species of fish. He 

 therefore came to the decision that there is no real 

 Whitebait, but that the fish which are so named are 

 just the fry of a variety of fish which are delicate in 

 taste, and have not acquired the peculiarity which 

 belongs to each species when further developed. 

 The following extract bears on this interesting subject : 



