CAPTUEE OF HEREING. 565 



Identification as the young of Leucodore ciliata. Herring and mackerel feed largely upon 

 these animals, so that the 'yellow meat' consists in greater part of the fine hairs which cover 

 the exterior of the larvae in question. This kind of food is considered to interfere less with 

 the proper curing of the Herring, as it is much more quickly digested. 



"The most objectionable kind of herring food, however, is that which is known as the 'black 

 meat,' or Svartant, sometimes called Krutaat, and occurring on the surface of the sea in the form of 

 little granules moving freely about, but which sink on being touched. This is said to be most 

 abundant in rainy seasons when there is a short interval of fine and clear weather. Herring that 

 have fed on this substance are considered to be entirely unfit for salting, even when kept in the 

 nets for a much longer time than that already mentioned. The salted fish has an extremely disa- 

 greeable smell, even after the stomach with its contents has been removed. A microscopic exam- 

 ination of this matter showed that it consists entirely of the larval young of small shells found 

 among the sea-weed and belonging to the genus Bissoa. These swim by means of two flippers, 

 covered with hairs, which are protruded from a transparent shell having from three to seven turns 

 or windings. They are about one-tenth of an inch in length, and on being touched draw within 

 the shell and sink to the bottom. When full grown, these mollusks lose their flippers and creep 

 about the sea-weed by means of a large foot. Thus, it is easy to understand why this 'black 

 meat' is more dangerous than the other kinds. While the shells of the animals forming the 'red 

 meat' are quite thin and the bodies of the 'yellow meat' are very soft, those of the 'black meat,' 

 on the contrary, being inclosed in hard shells, are not so readily reached by the digestive fluid, so 

 that while the exterior parts, namely, the swimming flippers, are quickly digested the rest of the 

 body within the shell becomes decomposed. On this account the flesh of the Herring after feeding 

 upon these mollusks soon becomes tainted by their decomposition and gives out a disagreeable 

 smell, notwithstanding the application of salt. 



"It may be asked why the summer and autumnal Herrings feed upon this food and not the 

 spring Herring, nor those taken in the open sea, both the latter being capable of preservation 

 without any detention in the nets. The reason of this seems to Ije that the spring and open-sea 

 Herrings are captured when under the stimulus of the spawning season and in the search for a 

 suitable place for the development of their young. At this time the question of food is reduced 

 to zero or near it, and a careful examination of the stomachs of Herrings taken under such circum- 

 stances shows comparatively little animal matter. Summer and autumn Herrings, on the other 

 hand, are specially engaged in seeking for foods and bringing up their flesh, and that at a time 

 when the larvjB of the lower animals are found swimming freely about in large quantity upon the 

 surface of the sea."' 



Capture and uses. — The methods of capture of the Herring are fully described in the 

 chapter by Mr. Earll upon the herring fisheries of the United States (to be printed in a subse- 

 quent portion of this report). 



"It is not a little remarkable," writes Professor Baird, "that while with most fish the spawning 



'Professor Mobius found that almost tho sole food of the Herring taken In Kiel Bay, in the winter and spring of 

 1872, when they were captured in immense quantities, consisted of a minute crustaceous animal^ nearly allied to the 

 common fresh-water oyclops, and but little larger. The apparatus, which enables the Herring to feed on these 

 minute creatures, is described by Professor Mobius as a sort of basket or "lobster-pot," formed by the arches of the 

 gills, each of which is furnished with a close-set fringe of teeth, while each of the latter bears two rows of minute 

 spines. The interlacing of these teeth and spines produces a narrow lattice- work, through which the water can 

 readily pass, while the little swimming animals contained in it are left behind in the mouth of the fish and gradually 

 pass down into its stomach. Some notion of the number of little crustaceans consumed by thu Herring may be formed 

 from the fact that Professor Mobius reckons 10,000 as the average number to be found in a Herring's stomach, 'and in 

 one instance no fewer than 61,000 were found. The sprat, the mackerel, and some other fishes, are provided with a,n 

 -pparatus more or less resembling that of the Herring. — Annals of Natural History. 



