584 THE OCEAN WORLD. 



The second species, the Common or Allice Shad (A. Communis), is 

 considerably larger, sometimes attaining twelve and even fifteen inches 

 in length, having only one spot on each side of the hody near the 

 head ; the jaws without teeth, the scales small in proportion. This 

 species is plentiful in the Severn, but rare in the Thames. 



Fig. 384. The Allice Shad (Alosa communis). 



The shad is found in the Severn and Thames in considerable 

 quantities about the second week in July. They reach the fresh 

 water about May, deposit their spawn, and return to salt water in 

 July. Their scales are large. 



The Sprat (C. SpraMus) has been the subject of a great controversy, 

 like the parr one party contending that it is the young of the 

 herring ; another, that it is a distinct species. Pennant, Yarrell, and 

 many eminent naturalists adopt the first view : yet its specific charac- 

 ters, according to Pennant, are " greater depth of body than the young 

 herring, gill-covers not veined ; teeth of the lower jaw so small as to 

 be scarcely sensible to the touch ; the dorsal fin placed far back, and 

 the sharp edge of the abdomen more acutely serrated than in the 

 herring." Like the herring, they inhabit the deep water during the 

 summer, following the shoal to the sea-shore in autumn. The sprat 

 fishing commences in November and continues during the winter 

 months, when they are caught in such numbers that in some localities 

 they have been used as manure. 



