SOUTHERN INLAND FISHES. 38 1 



HlclcoRY Shad. — Pomolobus mea'ocris. Gill. 



Hickory shad and gizzard shad are easily distinguished fronj 

 the white shad, in size, flavor, and shape. The true shad's mouth 

 shuts together evenly and is white. They are thicker and broader, 

 have a dark streak on each side of the backbone after cutting open, 

 and have a different flavor from any other fish ; while the hickory 

 shad's under lip is larger than the upper. It is black and ex- 

 tremely bony, and insipid in flavor. The hickory shad makes its 

 appearance in the St. John River the first or second week in No- 

 vember. The fishing is best about the first of January. The sea- 

 son ends about the middle of April. The shad are found in great 

 abundance in the lakes of Central Florida, where the fishermen 

 believe that most of them deposit their ova. 



Herring; glut herring; branch herring. — Pomolobus pseudoharengu$. Gill. 



Color of back steel-bluish or greenish ; head above and tip of 

 lower jaw of same color ; sides and belly silvery, the former with 

 from four to six dusky lines. Length eight to ten inches. This is 

 called the " glut herring " of the Potomac River, so called from 

 the vast schools which crowd that river during the spawning season 

 in May. It deposits its eggs on the bottom of the river, seeking 

 localities where the water is fresh, and apparently preferring the 

 hard beds where the myriophyllum grows, and no doubt the water 

 is well aerated. Some of these fish deposit-their eggs in the small 

 streams in the same region, and thence take the name of " branch 

 herring." 



CYPRINID^. 



The Common Carp. ; called also whitefish, roundfish, and larg;e-scaled sucker, — 

 Cyprinus carpio. Linn. 



Carp are very abundant throughout the Southern States, where 

 there are several varieties propagated from stock originally im- 

 ported from Southern Europe. In Virginia they are highly es- 

 teemed for food, and during their run in midwinter constitute for 

 many persons their entire supply of fresh fish. An intelligent 

 observer in that State speaks of their being very abundant in the 

 Mattaponi and Pamunky Rivers. They come up the rivers early 

 in January, generally after the first spell of very cold weather. 



