THE 



ZOOLOGICAL JOURNAL. 



July— October, 1828. 



Art. XV. On the supposed identity of Whitebait and 

 Shad. By William Yarrkll, Esq.^ F.L.S. 



That the diminutive fishes called Whitebait are the young of the 

 Shad fClupea alosaj is a point so long considered to be settled, that 

 I fear I shall be thought guilty of a crime little short of treason in Natural 

 History by declaring for an opposite opinion ; but having devoted con- 

 siderable time and attention to this subject during the present season, I 

 shall proceed to detail the facts, historical as w^ell as anatomical, of which 

 this investigation has placed me in possession, and which have led me 

 to adopt a conclusion at variance with all the English authors on this 

 point. 



Mr. Pennant in his British Zoology gives the Whitebait a place as an 

 appendage to the Bleak (Cyprinus alburnusj, rather, as he remarks, 

 *' than form a distinct article of a fish wliich it is impossible to class 

 *' with certainty." 



The editor of the edition published in 1812 says, " Mr. Pennant 

 *' was either deceived in the specimens sent him as Whitebait, or the 

 " branchiostegous rays were injured, since he counted only three (genus 

 " Cyprinus) instead of eight (genus ClupeaJ of these rays, which 

 " number they certainly possess." 



Dr. Shaw in his General Zoology follows Pennant, and describes the 

 Whitebait as a species of the Carp or Cyprinus genus. 



l^OL IV. K 



