CLUPEA.] PISCES (OSSEI) MALACOPT. 435 



DESCRIPT. " Much deeper in proportion than the Common Herring, 

 an adult fish eight inches long, being one inch and seven-eighths deep, 

 while a Common Herring of the same depth measures ten inches and 

 a half in length : dorsal and abdominal lines much more convex ; the 

 latter keeled, but without serration : under jaw with three or four pro- 

 minent teeth placed just within the angle formed by the symphysis ; the 

 upper maxillae with their edges slightly crenated: eye large: scales 

 smaller than in the other species: no distinct lateral line. Back and 

 sides deep blue, with green reflections, passing into silvery white be- 

 neath. Dorsal fin behind the centre of gravity ; but not so far behind 

 it as in the Common Herring : number of fin-rays, 



D. 18 ; A. 16 ; C. 20 ; P. 17 ; V. 9. 



Number of vertebrae fifty-four." YARR. 



A new species, obtained by Mr. Yarrell in 1831, from fishermen en- 

 gaged in taking Sprats at the mouths of the Thames and Medway. 

 Found heavy with roe on the 31st of January: probably does not 

 spawn till the middle of February. Flesh said to be much milder than 

 that of the Common Herring. 



Obs. From the statements made by Mr. Yarrell in the " Zoological 

 Journal*", it seems probable that there may be yet another species of 

 Herring, larger than either of those described above, occasionally met 

 with in the British seas. Pennant also speaks of one, seen by Mr. 

 Travis, which measured twenty-one inches and a half in length. 



118. C. Sprattus, Bloch. (Sprat.) Teeth in the lower 

 jaw obsolete : infra-orbitals and gill-covers not veined : 

 dorsal further back than in the Herring; the ventrals 

 beneath its anterior margin : keel of the abdomen serrated : 

 anal with eighteen rays. 



C. Sprattus, Bloch, Ichth. pi. 29. f. 2. Turt. Brit. Faun. p. 107. 

 Sprattus, Will. Hist. Pise. p. 221. Sprat, Penn. Brit. Zool. 

 vol. m. p. 346. Id. (Edit. 1812.) vol. HI. p. 457. Melet, Esprot 

 ou Harenguet, Cuv. Reg. An. torn. n. p. 318. 



LENGTH. Five inches. 



DESCRIPT. Proportions nearly the same as those of the adult Her- 

 ring, but the depth (equalling one-fifth of the entire length, caudal 

 included) considerably greater than in a young Herring of the same 

 length : keel of the abdomen more sharply serrated than in that spe- 

 cies: teeth in the lower jaw more obsolete, scarcely sensible to the 

 touch : subopercle of nearly the same form ; but the veins on the in- 

 fra-orbitals and preopercle not so distinct: scales larger: dorsal placed 

 a little further back, commencing at the middle point between the end of 

 the snout and the base of the caudal fork : ventrals, in consequence, rela- 

 tively more forward, being slightly in advance of a vertical line from the 

 first dorsal ray : number of fin-rays, 



D. 17; A. 18; C. 19, &c. ; P. 16; V. 7. 

 Number of vertebrae forty-eight. 



* Vol. v. pp. 279, and 382. 

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