Arthur. — On the New Zealand Sprat. 205 



market about eight years ago, so probably he means or refers to the same 

 date as above, although he could not tell me very exactly the time of the 

 occurrence. Neither can I find that this herring has been again seen on 

 our coasts till May of this year, when it appeared in large numbers for a 

 short time, as I have said, at Oamaru, close inshore, about a fortnight 

 altogether ; then bad weather set in, and it has not been heard of since. 

 The shoals did not visit Moeraki Bay, nor Dunedin Harbour, but those 

 fish caught were sent to Dunedin, and were found to possess good edible 

 qualities. 



As to the habits, reproduction, and growth of this fish we know less 

 than the little which is known of the British herring. Possibly, however, 

 the sealers and whalers, still living, may possess information which would 

 be of great interest in elucidating its natural history. Meantime one cir- 

 cumstance may fairly be inferred from the minuteness and buoyancy of 

 the ova, which is, that in whatever depth of water spawning may take 

 place, the hatching will occur on the surface of the sea in all probability. 

 I have made a rough calculation from the size of the roe-lobes and find 

 that one of these fish will contain over 20,000,000 ova ! This is an almost 

 incredible number, and would require verification by an examination of a 

 number of other individuals when an opportunity again occurs. I may 

 mention, however, that Mr. Frank Buckland, in his Natural History of 

 British Fishes, gives approximations to the above number in the roes of the 

 turbot and conger eel, which are given at 14,000,000 and 15,000,000 

 eggs respectively. The great number of ova in this sprat is suggestive 

 of a very heavy death rate due to this species of herring being pro- 

 bably the food of the seal, whale, and predatory fishes, as well as of 

 marine birds. 



The fact of these fish visiting our coasts at considerable intervals 

 of time, points to another circumstance which may regulate their 

 movements. Dr. Parnell in his "Fishes of the Forth," describes 

 the British form of the sprat as being very sensitive to cold, and 

 that on the approach of winter it ascends the estuary of the Forth 

 to the brackish water in search of a warmer locality. An old theory was 

 also held by Pennant that the herring migrated to the arctic seas before 

 winter. While there is much evidence of the presence of herring on the 

 British coasts during winter, there is nothing against the probability of 

 some of the species absenting themselves in the direction indicated at that 

 time of the year. Be that as it may, if our sprat is as sensitive as its 

 British representative, a reason would exist for its migration from more 

 northern waters to the antarctic seas after our summer is past. For a 

 warm current is believed to flow from the tropical region of the Pacific 



