FAMILY CLUPID^ ALOSA. 255 



degree semi-transparent. He may possibly be a variety of one of the preceding species ; but 

 I have thought it proper to mention him by liiinself." 



{EXTRA-LIMITAL.) 



C. harengus ? (Richardson, F. B. A. Vol. 3, p. 229.) Labials minutely toothed, with minute teeth 

 on the vomer. Back screen and gold. Length 15 inches. Arctic Seas. 



GENUS ALOSA. Cuvier. 



Characters of the preceding, hut the tongue and roof of the mouth smooth, and destitute of 

 teeth. Upper jaw with a deep notch in the centre. 



THE AMERICAN SHAD. 



AloSA PB2ESTABILI.S. 



PLATE XV. FIG. U. 



Cltipea alosa, Shad. ScHCEPFP, Beobachtungen, Vol. 8, p. 180. 

 C. id. Shad. Belk.nap, Hist. N. Y. Vol. 3, p. 130. 



C. id. MiTCHiLL, Report in part, &c. p. 22. 



The Shad, Clupea dosa. Mitchii.l, Trans. Lit. and Phil. Soc. Vol. 1, p. 149. 

 The Sprat Herring, C. indigena. In. Trans. Lit. and Phil. Soc. Vol. 1, p. 454. (Young?) 

 Alosa vulgaris. The Common Shad. Storer, Ichthyology of Massachusetts, p. 116. 



Characteristics. The largest American species of the genus. With one or more deirk spots 

 on the sides. Caudal pouches. Length one to tvi^o feet. 



Description. Body oblong, compressed ; its thickness being nearly one-half of its depth ; 

 the back rounded. Scales large, caducous, transparent, rhomboidal on the sides, rounded on 

 the abdomen. No lateral line obvious. Head small, smooth, and its length, compared to the 

 total length, as one to five. Lower jaw closing into the upper, and when dropped, apparently 

 longer. The labials large, narrowed above, and, under the lens, faintly denticulate on their 

 lower edges. The upper jaw smooth, with a central notch. Tongue distinct, smooth and 

 pointed. Eyes moderate ; two diameters distant from the extremity of the snout, and a sin- 

 gle diameter apart. Nostrils nearly equidistant from the central notch, and the middle of the 

 orbit. A triangular transparent space anterior to the eyes. Belly carinate, sharjily serrated 

 throughout; the serratures strongest between the ventrals and anal. 



The dorsal fin quadrangular, with a base two inches and a quarter long ; the first ray pro- 

 jects slightly beyond the skin, the second slightly longer, the third twice the length of the 

 preceding, the fourth still longer, and the fifth, which is two inches long, exceeds all the 

 others in length. All these rays are strong, simple and subspinous ; the remaining rays 

 branched ; the last ray nearly horizontal, and at the same distance from the end of the tail, 

 that the first ray is from the point of the nose : the fin itself is cmarginate, the last ray being 



