445 



The commonest species is the Moon-eye or Toothed Herring of the Lakes 

 {Hyodon tergisus^ : it frequently is taken in pound -nets, but is not regarded as 

 a valuable food-fish. On the other hand the Gold-Eye, H. alosoides (so-called on 

 account of the belly coming to a sharp keel as in the Shad) is a fish of some import- 

 ance in the North-west both commercially and to the sportsman. It is common 

 in the Saskatchewan valley, but is probably confined to that part ol Ontario 

 ^vhich drains into Lake Winnipeg, p. 428, 



The Clupeid^ or Herring family differ from the Moon-eyes in having an 

 almost toothless mouth, but very long gill-rakers ; they are all gregarious fish 

 swimming in immense schools, but although many are marine, others, like the 

 salmon, ascend fresh-water streams to spawn, and of these some may become 

 permanently land-locked. 



The sea-herring {Clupea harengus) is of course one of the most valuable and 

 abundant of food-fish, but it is entirely confined to the sea ; the Shad on the other 

 hand (C. sapidissima) ascends rivers to spawn and was formerly abundant even 

 in the Lower Ottawa. The only member of the genus, however, which can now 

 be said to be common within the Province is the Gaspereau or Alewife 

 {G. pseiidoharengus or vernalis), introduced into Lake Ontario since 1873 and now 

 very abundant. Another species, the Oliio Sha.d (C. chrysochlor is), ha,s been in- 

 troduced into Lake Erie, but is not valued for food. 



One of the marked features of the herrings is the keeled abdomen with its 

 saw-like edge. Teeth may be present on the vomer as in the sea-herring, or on 

 the jaws as in the Shad, or may be absent in the adult as in the Alewife and Shad 

 proper. The latter species is distinguished by the gill-cover being deeper than it 

 is long, also by its finer and more numerous gill-rakers. 



The Gaspereau appears to have been accidentally introduced into Lake Ontario 

 when the intention was to plant shad. At least it was formerly very uncommon 

 in the lower St. Lawrence, rarely straggling up higher than Metis. It is still 

 uncertain whether the fish, which appear abundantly every spring toward the end 

 of April, and disappear just as suddenly in September or October, go down to the 

 ocean in the fall and return thence in the spring or whether they merely retire to 

 the deep waters of the lake. The time of their movement is very probably a 

 matter of temperature. They come in towards the shores in immense schools at 

 the spawning season, rising to the surface and rippling it as mackerel do. The 

 schools are composed of adult fish of 8 to 9| inches in length, and are regarded as 

 a nuisance in the Thousand Island region where they fill the pound and trap nets 

 to the exclusion of other fish. They are, however, valuable from their quantity 

 if not for their quality, and besides furnishing a cheap food the surplus catch 

 can be employed in the manufacture of fertilisers. 



Obstacles in the way of river dams, etc., preventing the Alewives reaching 

 their natural spawning grounds and thus diminishing their number, have been 

 regarded by the late Professor Baird as a cause of the decrease of the inshore 

 cod and other fisheries, the Alewives being a favourite food of the carnivorous fish. 

 It is probable that the presence of Alewives in Lake Ontario may re-act favourably 

 on its fisheries by furnishing an abundant food for the larger lake fish. Little 

 is known with regard to the spawning of the Alewife in Lake Ontario : it is said 

 to occur in shoal water in June. The eggs number from 60,000 to 100,000, and are 

 somewhat adhesive ; three or four days suffice to hatch them, and the young fish 

 obtain a length of two or three inches before the winter. Immense numbers of dead 

 Alewives are found on the surface of the lake in the early summer ; the cause of 



