198 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



according to this writer, frequently reaches 2 feet with a depti 

 of from 4^ to G inches. At the time of his writing the fish wa 

 taken in October and November in seines on the surf side of th 

 beaches fronting Long Ishmd. Dr DeKay mentions example 

 in the market early in July, which are brought from the Coi 

 necticut river, where they are called weesick. He states tha 

 the specific name bestowed on it by Mitchill was derived fror 

 the aboriginal name of the island, Mattowaca or Mattowax. I 

 Great ^^outh bay the name greenback is well established fo 

 the species. A single example was seined September 29 at Fir 

 island. Oct. 1, 1890, considerable numbers of large greenback 

 were caught in a trap at Islip. The hickory shad is caught i: 

 Gravesend bay during September, October and November, but i 

 less plentiful than it was formerly. Large hickory shad, weighin; 

 from ^ pound to 2| pounds, were shipped from waters nea 

 New York citv to Fulton market Oct. 30, 1896. Each of the! 

 had in its stomach from 15 to 20 sand lance from 3| to 5 inche 

 long. A few specimens were seined at Blue Point cove, Grea 

 South bay, and at Howell's point, in the same bay, Aug. 31, 189? 



At Woods Hole Mass. it comes in the spring, but is mos 

 numerous late in September and till trap fishing ends. In Oct( 

 ber 1895 a trap near Tarpaulin cove caught 3500 at one lifi 

 These brought 10c each in New York. In spring and summe 

 IIk' tisli has no market value, but it sells in the fall. 



The name hickory shad is applied to this species from tb 

 <'he6<ay)eake bay region southward, and in some Georgia river 

 I his is abbreviated to hicks. In the Potomac, and some othe 

 rivers tributary to the Chesapeake, the name tailor shad is af 

 pli.'d lo this fish. The hickory shad occurs from Maine t 

 I'Iniida, entering rivers except in New England. The species i 

 much less valuable than the shad, for which it is often sold b; 

 <lea]ers. Nothing definite is known about its habits, but Marsha I 

 .M(l><)nald M-ns nf the opinion that it spawns in the rivers at : 

 liltlc cai-lier period than the shad, which it always ])recedes ii 

 III*' ascent of the streams in spring. 



