326 FISHES OF THE FIRTH OF FORTH. 



consequence of their extreme minuteness. This is a most important 

 character, which at once removes it from the shad, which has the 

 tongue and roof of the mouth destitute of teeth. Number of fin 

 rays— 



D. 17 ; P. 15 ; V. 9 ; A. 15 ; C. 20 ; Vert. 56 ; Cseca about 15. 



The Whitebait which isfound so plentifully in the Thames, 

 and is so well known in the neighbourhood of London, as 

 a delicate and well-flavoured fish, was supposed by natural- 

 ists to be the young of the shad, until Mr Yarrell, in the 

 Magazine of Natural History, proved it to be a distinct 

 species. In many respects it differs materially from all the 

 other British species of clupea, not only in specific charac- 

 ters, but also in its habits, and is one as distinctly marked 

 as any of its congeners. From the beginning of April to 

 the end of September, this fish, according to Mr Yarrell, 

 may be caught in the Thames as high up as Woolwich or 

 Blackwall every flood tide in considerable quantity ; while 

 during the first three months of this period, neither species 

 of the genus Clupea of any age or size except occasionally a 

 young sprat can be found. 



" About the end of March, or early in April, whitebait 

 begin to make their appearance in the Thames, and remain 

 till the end of September, when they are no longer to be 

 found in the river. In the months of June, July, and Au- 

 gust, provided the weather be fine, immense quantities are 

 consumed by visitors to Greenwich and Blackwall, where 

 epicures of all orders assemble for a whitebait feast. The 

 fishery for these fish is continued in the Thames frequently 

 so late as September, and specimens of young fish of the 

 year, from four to five inches long, are then not uncommon, 

 but mixed, even at this late period of the season, with others 

 of very small size, as if the roe had continued to be depo- 

 sited throughout the summer." 



