276 Isospondyli 
the lakes of New York. The skipjack of the Gulf of Mexico, 
Pomolobus chrysochloris, becomes very fat in the sea. The 
species becomes land-locked in the Ohio River, where it thrives 
as to numbers, but remains lean and almost useless as food. The 
glut-herring, Pomolobus estivalis, and the sprat, Pomolobus 
sprattus, of Europe are related forms. 
Very near also to the herring is the shad (Alosa sapidissima) 
of the eastern coasts of America, and its inferior relatives, the 
Fig. 210.—Alewife, Pomolobus pseudoharengus (Wilson). Potomac River. 
shad of the Gulf of Mexico (Alosa alabame), the Ohio River 
shad (Alosa ohiensis), very lately discovered, the Allice shad 
(Alosa alosa) of Europe, and the Thwaite shad (Alosa finta). 
In the genus Alosa the cheek region is very deep, giving the 
head a form different from that seen in the herring. 
The American shad is the best food-fish in the family, pecu- 
liarly delicate in flavor when broiled, but, to a greater degree 
than occurs in any other good food-fish, its flesh is crowded 
with small bones. The shad has been successfully introduced 
into the waters of California, where it abounds from Puget 
Sound to Point Concepcion, ascending the rivers to spawn in 
May as in its native region, the Atlantic coast. 
The genus Sardinella includes species of rich flesh and feeble 
skeleton, excellent when broiled, when they may be eaten bones 
and all. This condition favors their preservation in oil as 
“sardines.” All the species are alike excellent for this pur- 
pose. The sardine of Europe is the Sardinella pilchardus, known 
in England as the pilchard. The ‘“Sardina de Espafia” of 
