210 FISHES FOR THE MARINE AQUARIUM. 



specimens are there to be seen which have been living 

 in confinement nearly three years. The sprat is a 

 different species, although formerly regarded as the 

 young of the herring. It is even more difficult to 

 keep under artificial conditions than the latter fish, 

 although it has been successfully effected at Brighton, 

 Manchester, and elsewhere. The pilchard is annually 

 taken in immense quantities off the Cornish coast, 

 but few of them are consumed in England, Italy 

 being the market for them. In its young state it is 

 known as the " sardine," and in that condition is 

 imported into this country, preserved in oil, in the 

 well-known tins. The specimens in the Brighton 

 Aquarium were caught off the Sussex coast, for some- 

 times the pilchard strays along the south-eastern 

 and eastern coasts. Just now it is being discussed 

 whether adult pilchards preserved in oil, like sardines, 

 could not be turned to home use, so as to give us 

 an additional food-fish, and one that could not fail 

 to be appreciated. The adult fish is said to be quite 

 as good when cured and preserved in this way, as 

 the young, or sardine. 



The whiting and cod are both good aquarium 

 objects, and are almost as familiar to the general 

 public as herring and mackerel. We may find them 

 in all public aquaria. The former (Gadus merlangus), 

 like the cod, is gregarious in its habits, and is said 

 to be quickly accustomed to confinement. It is ex- 

 ceedingly pretty to see them gracefully making the 



