California Herring 



California Herring 

 Clupea pallasii Cuvier & Valenciennes 



The California herring, known in some earlier publications as 

 Clupea mirabilis Girard, is found in the North Pacific from San 

 Diego to Kamchatka and is everywhere known as "herring/ 1 

 It is scarcely different in size, appearance, or qualities from the 

 Atlantic species. It is found the entire length of our Pacific 

 Coast, being exceedingly abundant northward. All the bays and 

 outlets of Puget Sound are filled with them in summer. South 

 of Point Conception they are seldom seen except in winter. 

 They are so abundant in San Francisco Bay in spring that prac- 

 tically no market can be found for them. At San Diego they 

 spawn in the bay in January. Farther north the spawning 

 season is later. They are fattest and bring the best price in 

 early winter. They are smoked and dried, or salted, or sent fresh 

 to the markets. Sometimes oil is expressed from them. 



The California herring is an excellent food-fish, and large quan- 

 tities are used annually. It reaches a length of 18 inches. 



Head 4^; depth 4; D. 16; A. 14; scales 52. Lower jaw 

 strongly projecting, the upper not emarginate; belly scarcely com- 

 pressed in front of ventrals, serrate only between ventrals and anal ; 

 gill-rakers very long and slender; vomerine teeth weaker than in 

 the Atlantic herring; usually a few teeth on tongue and premax- 

 illaries; insertion of dorsal slightly nearer front of eye than base of 

 caudal. Colour, bluish above, silvery on sides and below; perito- 

 neum dusky. 



GENUS CLUPANODON LACEPEDE 

 The True Sardines 



This genus is close to Clupea, which it resembles in form 

 of body and the weak ventral serratures. It differs, however, in 

 having no teeth on the vomer; teeth in jaws mostly weak; scales 

 thin and deciduous ; adipose eyelid present ; gillrakers very 

 numerous. There are about 6 species in this genus, all confined 

 chiefly to the 2 temperate zones, and all closely related to tnc 



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