THE HERRING FAMILY 



It now remains to add some remarks about these fishes 

 individually. 



Clupeidae 



The Herring {Clupea harengus) is so familiar a fish that 

 any further description might seem superfluous. It is, however, 

 necessary to supplement what has gone before as follows : 

 Its polour varies between a not very pronounced green and 

 blue. Its scales are neither strikingly large nor small, and they 

 easily detach when the fish is roughly handled. Its lower edge 

 is smoother and less compressed than that of the sprat, 

 approximating more closely to that of the pilchard. Its eyes 

 have a free fat lid, and are easily suflfused with blood when the 

 fish struggles in the nets. Small weak teeth cover the jaws, 

 tongue, and palate, being distributed in a patch. 



The herring is a cold-water fish, and develops to a 

 larger size in more northern latitudes. In the Channel it 

 averages 12 in. ; in parts of the North Sea it exceeds this 

 by at least 5 in. There seems, in fact, to be a regular 

 progression in the relation between latitude and growth. Our 

 herrings are smaller than those caught off Iceland ; on the 

 other hand, our pilchards are larger than those of the 

 Mediterranean, and only the smaller of the shads finds its way 

 to the rivers of southern Europe. 



The Americans have made a closer study of varieties than 

 we have, or else the races are more clearly marked, for they 

 have their " glut," " poplar back," " may flipper," *' dun belly," 

 and other kinds. Iceland has a large, coarse herring, and there 



