594 NATURAL HISTOEY OF AQUATIC ANIMALS. 



178. THE INLAND ALEWIFE OR SKIPJACK CLUPEA CHRYSOCHLORIS. 



This fish, which is found in many parts of the Mississippi Valley, has recently been found by 

 Mr. Silas Stearns in the salt water off Pensacola a surprising circumstance, since the species was 

 thought to be an inhabitant of fresh water exclusively. "It is known to most inland fishermen as 

 the ' Skipjack,'" writes Professor Jordan, "in allusion to its habit of leaping from the water. It is 

 also sometimes called 'Shad' and 'Herring.' It is abundant throughout the Mississippi Valley in 

 all the larger streams. In the neighborhood of the ocean it descends to the Gulf, but in the upper 

 courses it is permanently resident. It has also entered Lake Michigan and Lake Erie since the 

 construction of the canals. It reaches a length of a little more than a foot. It feeds on small 

 crustaceans, worms, and the like, rarely taking the hook. As a food-fish it is regarded as wholly 

 worthless, its flesh being poor and dry, and full of innumerable small bones." 



179. THE SHAD CLUPEA SAPIDISSIMA. 

 By MARSHALL MCDONALD. 



NAMES. The following notes on the names of the Shad are taken from an unpublished man- 

 uscript by Mr. Goode upon the fisheries of Florida. The Shad appears to have been considered 

 by early American writers on fish identical with the Shad of England, Chtpeafinta. The first to 

 give to it a distinctive name was Alexander Wilson in the American edition of Eees' Encyclo- 

 paedia. 1 I quote his description in full, since it was claimed by Eafinesque, whose remark has 

 been since frequently quoted, that Clupea sapidissima was "catalogued, not described," by Wilson: 



*' Clupea sapidiiisima (AMERICAN SHAD). No spots on the sides; snout entire (not bifid as 

 in the European); from eighteen inches to two and a half feet in length; weighs from six to 

 ten and twelve pounds. Scales large, deciduous, and of a silver color, most delicious. They are 

 for six months about the capes or mouths of large rivers, then run into the sea. During March, 

 April, and May, they ascend these rivers to the freshes, and thence toward their sources, in 

 order to deposit their eggs in shallow water, where, hatching, the young fry descends in the 

 latter part of the summer and autumn to the tide waters, and thence down to the salts; and 

 the adults retarn likewise to the sea, thin, emaciated, and weak." 



GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. The Shad is found along the whole Atlantic coast of the 

 United States, and its capture constitutes one of the most important fisheries in all the streams 

 draining into the Atlantic between the Gulf of Saint Lawrence and the Saint John's Eiver, Florida. 

 Its northern limit is thus denned by Charles Lanman in the "Eeport of the United States Fish 

 Commission," part ii: 2 



"The Shad is but rarely seen on the Atlantic coast of Nova Scotia. It is found in the Gulf of 

 Saint Lawrence, the various rivers of which it ascends as far north as the Miramichi, which seems 

 to be its limit in that direction, none having been seen in the Bay of Chaleur." 



Throughout this entire range the Shad is found in sufficient quantities to give rise to fisheries 

 of great commercial value. There is no run of Shad into any of the rivers draining into the Gulf 

 of Mexico, although the capture of isolated individuals of this species has been reported from the 



'Tbe Cyclopedia or Universal Dictionary of Arts, Science and Literature. By Abraham Rees . . . First 

 American edition in forty-one volumes. Philadelphia. [The American edition is said by Allibone to have been in 

 course of publication from 1809 to 1820. Dr. Gill tells me that he has evidence to show that vol. ix was pub- 

 lished prior to 1814. J 



'Page 461. 



