2 Mr. C. T. Regan on the British Fishes 
Academy of Agriculture, has defined the genera that occur 
in Russian seas. It will be seen that I differ from him in 
uniting Spratella with Clupea and in separating Sardina 
from Sardinella; the last-named includes a number of 
tropical and subtropical species that differ from the sardines 
in more than one character, notably in that the operculum 
has a single groove near its anterior edge instead of several 
radiating grooves. 
CLuPEA, Linn. 
Elongate, compressed. Maxillary extending to below 
anterior part or middle of eye; lower jaw projecting ; upper 
not notched; teeth minute. Operculum smooth. Dorsal 
fin of 15 to 21 rays; origin nearly equidistant from end of 
snout and base of caudal. Anal of 14 to 21 rays; two last 
rays not enlarged. Caudal forked; no enlarged caudal 
scales. Pelvics 7- to 10-rayed, inserted below or in advance 
of middle of dorsal. 44 to 65 scales in a longitudinal and 
12 to 16 in a transverse series. Vertebre 46 to 59. 
In his classical research Heincke has discussed at length - 
the variation and specific characters of the herring and sprat_ 
as found in the North Sea and the Baltic, and has summarized 
his conclusions on p. 59 of his second report (Viert. Ber. 
Comm. Unters. Meere, Kiel, 1882). 
Some authors regard the sprat as the type of a genus, 
Spratella, distinct from Clupea, the principal difference being 
the absence of vomerine teeth. It is here shown that three 
closely related species from the Southern Hemisphere, which 
resemble the sprat rather than the herring in the number of 
fin-rays, scales, vertebre, and gill-rakers, and in the form 
of the opercular bones, approach the herring in having the 
pelvic fins 8-rayed and the maxillary longer than in the sprat. 
Moreover, one of them, from Stewart Island, has the dentition 
of the herring, and another, from Magellan and the Falklands, 
has the ventral scutes weakly keeled, the vertebra in increased 
number, and the pelvic fins often inserted a little behind the 
vertical from the origin of the dorsal fin, ail characters of 
C. harengus. 
It would be of considerable interest to ascertain whether 
these southern species show more resemblance to C. harengus 
or to C. sprattus in breeding-habits and structure of eggs. 
There are some little fishes from the Black and Caspian 
Seas, three or four species in all, that bear a considerable 
resemblance to the sprat. Berg refers them to the genus 
Harengula, Val., which, according to his diagnosis, differs 
