404 AMERICAN FISHES. 
ordinated to the impulse of reproduction (which brings them into the 
river), is not wholly lost. 
A female Shad of a certain age is always larger than a male of corre- 
sponding age. A general average for both sexes along the whole coast 
would be about four pounds, the extremes—for males—being from one 
and a half to six pounds, and for females from three and a half to eight 
pounds, the latter representing a maximum weight for Shad at the present 
time ; although, in the early history of the fisheries, there are records of 
the capture of fish weighing eleven, twelve and as much as fourteen 
pounds. 
THE HICKORY SHAD. 
The Hickory Shad, or Mattowacca, Clupea medtocris, was first brought 
to notice in 1815 in Mitchill’s paper on the fishes of New York, wherein 
it was described under two names, being called the ‘‘ Staten Island’’ 
Herring, C. mediocris, and the ‘‘ Long Island’’ Herring, C. mattowacca. 
The latter name was adopted by Storer for the species, but more recent 
authorities, guided by a rather questionable interpretation of the rules of 
priority, have substituted the name C. mediocris, because it was printed on 
the page preceding the other. Mitchill stated that the ‘‘ Long Island ”’ 
Herring occupied a middle station between the Shad and the “Staten 
Island ’’ Herring, but it seems strange that so accomplished an ichthyolo- 
gist should not have at once perceived the identity of the two. The name 
“€ mediocris’’ was founded upon small specimens. The names given this 
species are as varied as those of the river Herrings. The name ‘ Matto- 
wacca’’ is of Indian origin, and is said to have been derived from the 
Indian name for Long Island, A/atfowaka or Mattowax. 
The name ‘‘ Hickory Shad ’’ is applied to this species on all parts of the 
