60 FISHES AND FISHERIES OF THE IRISH SEA; 



Family CLUPEID.E. 



This is the very important family to which the Herring-, Sprat, Pilchard, Anchovy, 

 and Shad belong. The members of this family are characterised by having : No spines 

 in the fins, no barbels, the scales very thin, one dorsal and one ventral fin, and the pelvics 

 placed below the dorsal. The mouth is large and the teeth small. The gill openings are 

 very large, so that the gills are much exposed. There is a well developed air-bladder 

 opening by a duct into the stomach. 



These fish live in shoals. They feed on Copepoda and other floating food which 

 they strain out of the water. They are widely distributed in tropical and temperate seas, 

 near coasts. They periodically come into shallower water, and even enter the estuaries ; 

 the sprat and herring are often found in brackish water, and the shads regularly go up the 

 rivers to spawn. 



The spawn of the herring is demersal, that is it is heavy and adhesive, so that it 

 sinks in the water, and adheres to weeds, shells, and stones, at the sea-bottom. The eggs 

 of the sprat, on the other hand, are pelagic, transparent, and buoyant. The herrings that 

 spawn in winter (January to March) are a different race from those that spawn in summer 

 or autumn. The winter herring- frequently spawn in brackish water, while the summer 

 herring keep further from land. The great Scottish spawning beds to the north of our 

 district, on the Ballantrae Bank, off Ayrshire, are frequented by the winter herring, and 

 the spawning takes place in February and March ; while the herring that appears on the 

 east coast of Scotland, and is the subject of the great fishery in July and August, is the 

 summer herring. 



ENGRAULIS ENCRASICHOLUS (Linn.) Anchovy. 



(Day's British Fishes, vol. II., p. 206, PI. CXXXVIII, Fig. i.) 

 (Fish. Mus., Zool. Dep., Univ. Coll., Liverpool.) 



The Anchovy ranges from the Baltic to the Mediterranean, and is usually exceedingly 

 abundant where it occurs. It is mostly on our southern coasts that anchovy fishing is carried 

 on, and in our district we only get occasional stragglers. Curiously enough, the fish was 

 first obtained in our seas by Ray from the estuary of the Dee. It is recorded by Pennant, from 

 Flintshire. Byerley records it from the Dee, Walker says, " Frequently taken in Rhos Weir," 

 and Professor White says it is common in spring and summer in Menai Straits Two were 

 trawled off the Liverpool bar on May 2oth, 1901, from our fisheries steamer. Last year (1900) 

 some were obtained by Capt. Eccles. 



CLUPEA HARENGUS, Linn. Herring 1 . 



(Day's British Fishes, vol. II., p. 208, PI. CXXVIII., Fig. 2.) 

 (Fish. Mus., Zool. Dep., Univ. Coll., Liverpool.) 



Mr. Walker writes in regard to Rhos Weir : "The principal shoals visit North Wales 

 in October and November, some also early in May and June. From 200 to 500 a tide 

 were taken in the first week in June, 1891 ; about 500 on November 24, 1894, with roes about 

 half grown ; on October ist, 1895, a lot of small ones, about 2\ inches long, were taken in the 

 weir, and on October i7th, about 70 full grown." 



In this district most of our herring come towards the end of the year the "winter 

 herring" but there may also be some in spring, the "summer herring." Like many 



