EIGHTH ANNUAL MEETING. Mo 
as Ss a = = 
Bay very extensively, while engaged in his researches into the 
habits of fish found on our coast, I asked him if he ever found 
any fish in his nets resembling Whitebait. He assured me 
that he had, and that they would be found in the vicinity of Bay 
Ridge. Inthe spring of 1878, 1 requested a shrimp fisherman 
to bring me all the small fish he might find in his net when fish- 
ing for shrimp, and on April 16th he brought me three small 
fish that were identical in appearance with the English White- 
bait. The next day he brought about fifty specimens ; some of 
these I sent to Professor Spencer F. Baird, who, after examina- 
tion, wrote me that they were “the young of two distinct spe- 
cies—one the Pomolobus pseudoharengus, the common Alewife, or 
Gaspereau; the other the Pomolobus mediocris, or Sea or Taylor 
Shad.” Having determined that they were not the fry of any 
of our valuable food fish, I took measure to procure a supply 
for table use ; obtaining which, I sent them to the Union Club, 
where they were served, and the superintendent, Mr. Chisholm, 
informed me they tasted so much like the English Whitebait 
that some of the members supposed that they had been imported 
from the other side. After receiving this verdict on their 
superiority as a table fish, it only remained to introduce them to 
the public, which was done at a dinner given upon the opening 
of the Manhattan Beach Hotel, Coney Island, on May 15th, 
1878. This was the first Whitebait dinner ever served in this 
country. The demand at once exceeded the supply, as at no 
time during the season was over sixty pounds taken in one day. 
They were sold at fifty to seventy-five cents per pound. The 
great call for these dainty little fish led the fishermen and some 
of the dealers to supply the demand with a small fish that is 
found in our harbor in large numbers, and called by the fisher- 
men “spearing,” a very inferior fish for table use, which fact epi- 
cures soon discovered, and the price soon declined so low as 
to make the catching of them unprofitable. These spearing 
are a species of anchovy, Lugraulis vittatus, and differ but 
slightly from the famous anchovy of the Mediterreanean, 
Engraulis encrasicholus, which is so prized by good livers in the 
form of anchovy sauce and anchovy paste. They may be easily 
distinguished from the Whitebait, as they are totally unlike 
