284 IHE SH-Air, 



'^he Shad *. 



Tins is fiippofed to be the thrllTa of y^rijloth and OppU 

 an, and the alaufa of Aujoiiiiis ; but the defcriptions 

 which the ancients gave of their fpecies were fo vague 

 and general, that we can feldom afcertain the exaft fpecies 

 they liad in view. The fhad, in the fhape of the body 

 and head, bears a flrong refemblance to tlie herring ; the 

 former, however, is a deeper fifli, and more comprefTed 

 laterally ; it is alfo confiderably larger, weighing from 

 four to eight pounds. In colour, this fpecies refembles 

 the pilchard ; tlie back being of a blackilh blue, and the 

 iides filverj'. On each fide, near the gills, there is a 

 targe black fpot ; and behind it, in the fame flraight line, 

 there is a row of five or fix others, fmaller in fize. The 

 lateral lines are obfcurely difcerned ; the fcales are large 

 and deciduous, their margins punftuated with fmall blaek 

 dots ; the h<\\y is carinated, and ftrongly ferrated by the 

 edges of forty fcales, which proceed in a row, from the 

 giils to the a:: us. The eyes are large, covered as far as 

 the irides with a loofe membrane ; the upper jaw is 

 iorr.ewhat Ihorter than the lower, and exafperated on the 

 margin with very minute teeth j the other jjarts of the 

 mouth are fraooth. Tiie dorfal fin is fituated near the 

 centre of tiie fifii, fiipported by eighteen cartilaginous 

 rays, of which the middle are longeit j the ventral, pec- 

 toral, 



* Clupea Alcfa., Lin. Syfi. TJie Shad, or nicthsr of herring,. Will. 



