t^llPIN ON THE SHAD. 17 



'kRT. II, On the Food Fishes of Nova Scotia. No. VI. 

 By J. Bernard Gilpin, A. B., M. D., M. R. C. S. 



(Read December, 1867 J 



The Shad. 



,Alosa PrestabiUs, (DeKay.) 



Aloso. Tyrannus, (Gill from Latrobe.| 



Alosa Vulgaris, (Storer.) 



Description of a shad from the Shubenacadie river. One of 

 •four procured for the Paris Exposition, 1867, July 17, 1866 : — • 



Length of head, 8 6-10 inch. 

 Length to base of tail, 16 inches. 

 Breadth at deepest part, 5 inches. 

 From tip of nose to orbit, 9-10 inch. 



The general outline. Head very small. The back rounding up suddenly 

 from the opereles and making a bold convexity to dorsal fin, from thence 

 -descending to tail. The outline of belly very convex. A short thick fish. 

 The upper jaw notched, the lovrer when open seemingly longer than upper, 

 when closed of the same length. Colour, silvery from below to ridge of back, 

 with a fine light reddish bronze catching about the sides. Top of back 

 bluish ash, top of head greenish horn, sides of head and opereles yellowish 

 and bronze with a few radiating stri^ ; a row of spots of dark blue, com- 

 mencing with one large one behind upper angle of opercle and extending along 

 the sides to opposite posterior edge of dorsal fin — (when covered by scales 

 these spots are not so distinct.) Dorsal and caudal fins bluish ash with dark 

 extremities, ventral and anal light yellow. Pectoral light yellow, with dark upper 

 edge. Rim of belly strongly serrated. Thirty-seven or eight points on edge 

 of belly from gills te anus, some sharp, others worn down. No raised line 

 of scales. Scales very large and irregularly circular. A large caudal pouch 

 or scale, irides silvery, eye not filling up the orbit, nostril one-third nearer tip 

 of nose than orbit. Toothless. Brangiostegal rays square pointed 7 of aside. 

 D. 17, (counting the two first very short ones as rays), P. 17, V. 8, A. 17. 

 Dorsal irregularly rhombnidal, caudal deeply cleft and much frayed and worn. 



Weight above four pounds. 



Nov. 14, 1868. Two shad were brought to Halifax fish market of this 

 date. They were taken amongst some mackerel. In colour they were dark 

 blue on the back, silvery on the sides, with none of that cupreous reflection in 

 the summer specimens. The large humeral spot was scarcely to be distin- 

 guished, and instead of one line of small spots reaching only to posterior edge 

 of dorsal, two lines of spots, each reaching nearly to tail, were present. The 

 opereles and head were cupreous or bronzed and pointed with small black dots. 

 The striae on the opercle were much defined and in parallel and slanting 

 lines. They were lean and out of condition The double row of spots is the 

 more remarkable as they seem to be the typical mark of DeKay's species, — 

 " Matawoaca." Being found so late in the season on our coast is a proof of 

 their not migrating southward during winter, and I fancy of very rare 

 •occurrence. 

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