SKIPJACK. 873 



son to the same district, or even the same State, is not very great. 

 Several large individuals have already been taken in the Ohio. As to the 

 value of the Shad as a food fish in Ohio, the following note by Mr. Klip- 

 part, seems to contain the gist of the matter. 



" People from the East, who, in their childhood, were accustomed to 

 Shad as a food fish, have imbibed very strong prejudices in its favor ; but 

 people accustomed to White-fish at first, never learn to esteem the Shad 

 as highly as Eastern people do. Non-migrating fishes will find greater 

 favor as food fish, while any sort of game fish will be greatly preferred by 

 the sportsman." 



Gknus 47. POMOLOBUS. Eafinesqne. 

 Pomolobus, Rafinesqdb, loh. Oh., 1820, 38. 

 Kowala, Meletta, etc., Cuv. et Yal., Hist. Nat. dea Poias., xx. 

 Ala-usella, Gill, Proo Acad. Nat. Sci Phila., 1861, 36, etc. 



Type, Pomolobus ohryaocTiloris, Rafinesqae. 



Etymology, poma, opercnlnm ; lobos, lobe. 



No teeth on the vomer ; feeble or cadncons teeth present on some one or more of the 

 bones of the month (rather stoat in one species) ; lower jaw rather the longest, its lips 

 fitting into the emargination of the upper ; gill rakers rather long ; dorsal fin median, 

 beginning rattier in advance of ventrals, its last ray not filamentous ; ventral serrations 

 strong ; body oblong, compressed ; scales medinm, posteriorly entire. Species 60 or 70, 

 in all seas, some of them entering or remaining in fresh water. 



This genns is divisible into several groups or snbgenera, Pomolobus proper being re- 

 presented by a single American fresh water species. It is distinguished by its stronger 

 dentition, the teeth at the symphysis of the lower jaw being larger than in other 

 Clupeidce, and there are some teeth on the premaxillaries and the tongue. The Ameri- 

 can marine species (Alewife, etc.,) belong to the subgenus Meletta, with teeth on the 

 tongae only. Both Pomolobus aad Alosa are distinguished from Clupea by characters of 

 little importance. 



89. Pomolobus chrysochloets Rafinesque. 



Skipjack; Ohio Sliad. 



Pomolobus cftrygocAZom, Rafinesque, Ich. Oh., 1820, 38 — Gill, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci., 

 Phila., 1861, 33.— Jordan, Man. Vert., 2d Ed., 1878, 279, and of most late writers 

 who have noticed the species, 



Alosa chrysochloris, Kiktland, Best. Jonrn. Nat. Hist., iv, 307, pi. 15, fig. 3. 



Description — Body elliptical, much compressed, not elevated ; month rather large, 

 terminal, oblique, the teeth in the jaws better developed than in other shad- like fishes ; 

 caudal peduncle rather deep, its depth about twice the width of the eye ; color brilliant 

 blue, with green and golden reflections, silvery below ; head 4 ; depth 5i ; D. 18 ; A. 18 ; 

 lat. 1. 55 ; 17 scntes behind ventrals. Length 8 to 12 inches. 



Habitat, Mississippi Valley and Galf of ■> exico ; generally abundant in the larger 

 stieams, and escaped through the canals into Lakes Erie and Michigan. 



