CATALOGUE OP PISHES. 373 



Fam. CLUPEID^. Uebeing Family. 



Clupea harengus, Willughby. Heeeing. 



Clupea harengus, Yarr., Brit. Fish., Yol. 2, p. 183. 

 „ ,, Crouch, Brit. Fish., Yol. 4, p. 95, pi. 202. 



Yisits Berwick Bay during the harvest months in great num- 

 bers. In Yfallis' time enough for export were not taken 1769. — 

 Dr. G. Johnston. In Thomas Bewick's copy of Pennant there 

 is a note stating that on "July 28th, 1809, a Herring was 

 caught in the Salmon nets, at the King's Meadow, near New- 

 castle. It weighed 13 oz., and measured 14 inches in length 

 and 3 in. in depth." This was probably an Allice Shad. — See 

 further on. M. 



Clupea Leachii, Leach's Herring, a supposed species, but most 

 probably ouly a variety of the common Herring, has been re- 

 corded from the Yorkshire coast by Mr. T. Meynell, 1844. 



The Sprat, Clupea spraitus, Auct., 1 occurs in the larger es- 

 tuaries of the East Coast, from the Thames northward, and is 

 considered by many authors a distinct species ; in this Catalogue 

 it is considered merely the young of the Herring. It is captured 

 in the early spring months at the mouth of the Tees, and sold 

 chiefly to the Redcar fishermen, at a low price per stone, for 

 bait for their lines. It was formerly caught, but only in small 

 quantities, at the mouth of the Tyne. 



i John Bay, adopting the same opinion as Willughby, that the Sprat is only the 

 young of the Herring and the Sparling the young of the Pilchard, declares that 

 " nullam neque in flgura, neque in partibus corporis internis aut externis prseter mag- 

 nitudinem, neque in sapore carnis differentiam invenire potui. Oui consonant tempus 

 capiendi circa solstitium hybernum, diu post edita Harengoruru ova, quo temporis 

 spatio in earn magnitudineni facile possint excrescere; nee alio anni tempore inveni- 

 untur," etc. I am quite aware that many modern writers hold an opinion very 

 different from Willughby and Eay, and that they advance many statements which, 

 according to them, prove the Sprat to be a species; but by the same kind of arguments 

 which they use the young of almost any animal might be proved to be distinct from 

 the adult form. Frank Buckland adduces ten points, and calls to his aid taste and 

 smell, to prove that the Sprat differs from the young of the Herring. Why the sense 

 of sight is omitted is unknown, and where the young Herring were obtained from for 

 comparison is not stated. Until naturalists are able to distinguish perfectly the fry 

 of the Herring, Pilchard, and the two Shads from each other, during their early 

 growth, they will have some difficulty in establishing the Sprat as a distinct species. 



