142 LAKES AND RIVERS. 



"ROCHESTER. Messrs. Buckland and Walpole, 

 the Sea Fishery Commissioners, held an inquiry here 

 to-day, when several experienced fishermen were ex- 

 amined. Their unanimous opinion was that the 

 catching of whitebait should be altogether prohibited, 

 the fish to which that name is given being, in their 

 opinion, not a separate species, but merely the fry of 

 sprats and herrings, the herring fishery in particular 

 suffering greatly from this wholesale destruction of 

 young fish." Daily Telegraph, Friday, November 

 iSth, 1878. 



The Twaite Shad (Clupea alosa, Alosafintd) is from 

 10 inches to nearly a foot and a half long. It has 

 teeth in both jaws, and has a row of dark spots on 

 each side. In former times the Shad, like many of 

 our fresh-water fish, was more esteemed than it is 

 now. Formerly it was abundant in the Thames. 



The Allice or Allis, the Alewisse Shad (C. alosa^ 

 A. vulgaris), is much larger than the above species. 

 There is an abundance of them in the Severn and 

 Wye, but elsewhere they are scarce. 



The Flounder (Platessa flesus or Pleuronedesflesus\ 

 called in Scotland Fluke or Mayock-fluke, is of the 

 family Pleiironectidce, or flat fishes. The habit of 

 this fish is to frequent chiefly the muddy bottoms of 

 rivers and estuaries. It is a small flat fish, broad in 

 the middle, and very thin. It is a pale dusky 

 brown, sometimes spotted on the upper side, and 

 white underneath. It swims on its side, and propels 

 itself by waving its thin body to and fro. Both eyes 

 in this fish are on the upper side. As the Flounder 

 has little means of defending itself, it is compensated 



