46 



MARKETABLE BRITISH MARINE FISHES 



includes the herring, sprat, pilchard, shads, and the anchovy. 

 The herring and sprat regularly enter estuaries, while the shads 

 ascend to the upper waters of rivers and there spawn. The 

 pilchard, on the other hand, is more completely marine. The 

 herring is a northern fish, and does not occur in the Mediter- 

 ranean, but is abundant on the American side of the Atlantic. 



Fig. 7. — The Herring. 



On the American coast there are also other abundant and 

 valuable species of the herring family, namely the menhaden or 

 moss-banker, which is much larger than the herring, and is valued 

 chiefly for the oil which it yields and for use as bait, and the 

 mattowocca, which ascends into fresh water in spring and spawns 

 in ponds and lakes. The British shads are absent on the 



Fig. 8.— The Smelt. 



American side, their place being taken by the American shad, a 

 different species which is a much-valued article of food. The 

 pilchard extends from the Mediterranean to the south-west coast 

 of England, but not to the west side of the Atlantic. The 

 anchovy is also a Mediterranean fish, but not American. 



The fishes of the salmon family (Fig. 8) are distinguished 

 by the possession of a rudimentary second dorsal fin : this fin 



