276 UTILITARIAN ZOOLOGY 



about 1 1^ lb., but this may be greatly exceeded, especially in the 

 case of local races. It is a purely freshwater species, and more 

 delicate in flavour than is usual with such forms. 



The Smelt or Sparling (Osmerus eperlanus, fig. 1203). — This 

 rather small fish is generally considered a dainty. It abounds 

 in the tidal parts of many of the rivers of Europe and North 

 America, ascending these for some distance for the purpose of 

 spawning. Giinther says of it (in The Study of Fishes): — " In the 

 sea it grows to a length of 8 inches, but, singularly, it frequently 



Fig. 1203.— Smelt [Osmerus eperlanus) 



migrates from the sea into rivers and lakes, where its growth is 

 very much retarded. That this habit is one of very old date is 

 evident from the fact that this small freshwater form occurs and 

 is fully acclimatized in lakes which have now no open com- 

 munication with the sea." Smelts are taken in large numbers 

 by seines in some of the English estuaries which open into the 

 southern part of the North Sea. 



There are several other families of ordinary bony fishes 

 (Teleostei) of which the freshwater species are used as food, such 

 as the Carp Family, Pike Family, &c. As, in this country at any 

 rate, they are of no particular economic importance, it is scarcely 

 necessary to deal with them here. A few words, however, about 

 a few of the families of lower fishes will not be out of place. 



