THE HERRING FAMILY. 405 



cured in Britain, though Mr Jackson of Southport found some 

 with ripe ovaries in June, 1878^ One of us received from 

 Mr R. L. Ascroft, of Lytham, certain eggs in the contents of a 

 tow-net off Lytham pier on the 26th June of last year, which 

 were identified as those of the anchovy at an advanced stage 

 (Plate IV, fig. 22). Ascroft had hatched the larvae and found 

 seven lateral sense-organs on each side. They were straight and 

 rigid and were active swimmers. The long diameter of these 

 eggs after preservation in solution of formalin ranged from 1'295 

 to 1"447 mm., the shorter diameter being almost constant 

 at '685 mm. They were thus larger than those from the 

 Mediterranean or the Zuyder Zee, but they were not measured 

 in a living condition. The pelagic fauna amongst which these 

 eggs occurred at Lytham was peculiarly rich in Noctiluca, 

 arrow-worms, larval annelids (Nerine and Polydora), Cypris- 

 stage of Cirripedes, Copepods, larval mollusks, Appendicularia 

 and other forms, denoting both a considerable temperature and 

 congenial surroundings^. 



By the kindness of Mr H. C. Williamson, we had the 

 opportunity of examining specimens of newly deposited eggs 

 and larvae procured from the Bay of Naples on the 17th August, 

 so that the spawning-period in our country agrees with, though 

 it may not begin so early or continue so late (September), as that 

 at Naples. The larger Neapolitan eggs had a long diameter 

 of 1"295, and most had a shorter diameter of '685 mm., as 

 in the British examples. The remarkable elongation of the 

 yolk, its vesicular condition and the structure of the noto- 

 chord are diagnostic in the larval anchovy. 



The distribution of the fish in British waters has been 

 described by Prof Ewart, Dr Fulton and Mr Cunningham. 



The Herring. (Clupea harengus, L.) 



The herring occupies in several respects a unique position 

 amongst the important food-fishes. In the first place it 

 stands out conspicuously as the only one which deposits its 

 eggs upon the sea-bottom or, in other words, has a demersal 



' Fide J. T. Cunningham, J. M. B. Assoc. 1889-90, p. 332. 

 2 W. C. M. Nature, Vol. 54, p. 296, July, 1896. 



