Tailor Herring ; Hickory Shad 



projecting, its tip entering the profile; upper jaw emarginate; 

 premaxillary, and often tip of lower jaw, with persistent teeth 

 of moderate size; maxillary large, reaching posterior part of eye; 

 eye large, well covered by adipose eyelid; caudal peduncle slender, 

 the caudal fin well forked; gillrakers comparatively few, short, 

 stout, and coarse, about 23 below angle of arch; opercle with 

 radiating and branching striae. Colour, brilliant blue above, sides 

 silvery with golden reflections; no dark spots behind opercle; 

 peritoneum pale. 



Tailor Herring; Hickory Shad 



Pomolobus mediocris (Mitchill) 



This species of herring, which is also known as fall her- 

 ring and mattowacca, is fairly common from Cape Cod to Flor- 

 ida. The name Mattowacca is said to be derived from the 

 Indian name for Long Island, which was Mattowaka or Mattowax. 

 In the Potomac River it is called "tailor shad" or "fresh- water 

 tailor," in contradistinction to the bluefish which is called "salt- 

 water tailor." 



The centre of abundance of the tailor seems to be in the 

 vicinity of Chesapeake Bay where ii usually makes its appearance 

 in the rivers in the spring before the shad. Northward it does 

 not usually enter streams, but southward it does so regularly. 



It reaches a maximum length of 24 inches, though examples 

 of more than 3 pounds' weight are not often seen. 



This species is caught in great quantities in pound-nets and 

 is hawked about the streets of Washington and other cities in 



