210 NEW YORK STATE MUSEIUM 



than one half its length, the bone almost covering the mandible, 

 which is scarcely projecting; gill rakers very long and slender; 

 pseudobranchiae well developed; dorsal origin much nearer to 

 tip of snout than to base of caudal, equidistant from snout and 

 origin of anal, base of dorsal as long as the longest ray and two 

 thirds as long as the head, filament reaching to base of caudal, 

 much longer than the head in examples measuring from 7 to 9 

 inches; anal base as long as the head without the snout, its 

 longest ray three fourths of diameter of eye; ventral origin 

 under 8th or 9th developed ray of dorsal, the fin half as long 

 as the head; pectoral four fifths as long as the head. Scales 

 smooth, firm, but easil}^ detached. Bluish above; lower parts 

 silvery; an indistinct bluish spot behind the operculum; each 

 scale on the back having a dark spot at its base, these forming 

 streaks as in the glut herring. Length 12 inches. D. 19 ; A. 24. 

 Scales 15-50; scutes 17+14. (West Indies, northward to Cape 

 Cod in summer.) 



The thread herring appears in July and August in Gravesend 

 bay, and is sometimes so abundant as to fill the nets (fykes) of 

 the fishermen. The great run begins toward the end of July 

 and lasts two weeks. The fish is known there as the sprat 

 herring. 



De Kay, in Nmc York Fauna, Fishes, p. 264, pi. 41, fig. 132, de- 

 scribes the species under the name Chatoessus signifer. 

 The colors, according to that author, are as follows: "Bluish 

 above, with a series of dark points along the sides of the back, 

 forming four or five longitudinal lines. A round black spot 

 behind the upper part of the branchial aperture. Pectorals, 

 ventrals and anal white. Dorsal and caudal yellow; the mem- 

 brane finely punctate with black, and bordered with dusky. 

 Irides white varied with yellowish." He further says: "It 

 appears in our waters about the beginning of September, where 

 it is often called the shad herring. It has also the names of 

 thread herring and threadfish, in allusion to its last filamentous 

 dorsal ray." 



