320 



ZOOLOGY 



to Spain. Our common shad^ ranges from Newfound- 

 land to Florida.- With the Pacific sahnon and cod it is 

 conmiercially one of our most important fishes, for the catch 

 of Atlantic shad for 1902 was valued at nearly one million 

 dollars. The Pacific coast has been successfully stocked with 

 shad from the Atlantic. The Atlantic shad, like the salmon, 

 migrate up streams to deposit their eggs. The alewives have 

 the same habit. The herring, on the contrary, spawn in the 

 sea. As the common name, alhed to the German Heer, an 



Fig. .302. — Aloso. ^apidis-^ima, the shad. After Goode. 



army, implies, the}' travel in great schools. The menharlen, 

 which also occur in great schools, have of late years Ijeen de- 

 stroyed in vast nmnbers to make fertilizers. 



The eels are easily distinguished by their serpent-like form, 

 the absence of ventral fins, the long dorsal fin, and the rudi- 

 mentary or absent scales. These fish occur all along our coast, 

 and ascend streams. During the day they lie hidden in mud, 

 and at night they feed, their principal prey lieing small aquatic 

 animals, the young of other fish, and .shrimps and crayfishes 

 during the molting period. On account of the narrowness of 



^ Alo.-iu sapidis~'<inin ; Alosa, from Saxon alli^, old name of the European 

 shad ; sapidis^iina, most deUcious. 

 2 Fig. 302. 



