Lake Herring 



width equal to half its length; eye large, equal to snout; dorsal fin 

 high, its height equal to f depth of body, and i^ times length of base 

 of fin, its origin nearer base of caudal than snout, its free margin 

 nearly straight and vertical; longest anal ray f length of base of fin; 

 ventral long, equal to height of dorsal, its length equal to f of distance 

 from ventral origin to vent; ventral origin midway between base of 

 caudal and pupil; adipose fin long and slender, of uniform width 

 which is i its length; mouth large, lower jaw projecting; teeth on 

 tongue. Colour, grayish silvery above, sides bright silvery, white 

 below; tips of dorsal and caudal dark. 



Lake Herring 



Argyrosotmis artedi (Le Sueur) 



This important food-fish, named by Le Sueur in honour of 

 Petrus Artedi, the "Father of Ichthyology," the friend and associ- 

 ate of Linnaeus, and perhaps the ablest systematic zoologist of the 

 i8th century, is found throughout the region of the Great Lakes, 

 from Lake Memphremagog on the east to Lake Superior on the 

 west, and northward into the Hudson Bay drainage, and to 

 Labrador. 



Throughout its range it is the most abundant member of 

 the family. It is taken in enormous quantities each year, and in 

 most of the lakes is the object of a special fishery. The quan- 

 tity taken each year in the Great Lakes is greater than that of 

 all other whitefishes combined, but in value of catch and in food 

 value it does not equal the common whitefish. The species is 

 most abundant in Lake Erie, while Lake Michigan ranks second 

 in importance. 



The lake herring has a large number of vernacular names. 

 The most widely used are lake herring, or merely herring, and 

 cisco, either of which is, in most places, distinctive. In Lake 

 Ontario it is usually called cisco. The etymology of the word 

 is in dispute. One assigned derivation is from a fish peddler 

 named Cisco, who, about 1830, took the fish through the 

 northern part of New York State and sold it to the farmers as 

 "Cisco's herring." "Sisco" is merely a recent variation in the 

 orthography. Other names for this fish in Lake Ontario are 

 herring, blueback, greenback, blueback or greenback herring, and 

 grayback or grayback herring. These different names are simply 



132 



