THE HERRING FAMILY 207 



Young sprats of about i\ in. are known as " brit," which, 

 with the " mackerel-midge," as the young of rocklings are 

 called, constitute [so important a source of food for surface- 

 hunting fishes. 



Sprats appear to approach our estuaries and narrow bays 

 not so much to breed, however, as for feeding purposes. 

 Indeed, the spawning is often carried on some little way from 

 land, and the sprats do not commonly shoal inshore until 

 autumn and winter, their presence at such spots as Deal being 

 the signal for a corresponding muster of the cod and whiting. 



The Anchovy {Engraulis encrascicholus) is less important in 

 our seas than the three foregoing members of the family, but 

 very large fisheries have long been established as far south as 

 the Mediterranean, and as far north as the Zuyder Zee, where 

 this little fish spawns every summer. The anchovy may be 

 recognised from other Clupeids by the projecting snout and 

 deep cleft to the mouth, which give it the look of a miniature 

 shark. Its eye has a peculiar covering of skin, and it has a 

 deeply forked tail, very small teeth, and a broad silver band 

 on the sides. In colour, the back is dark green. This fish 

 grows to a length of 7 or 8 in. 



The anchovy is not known to spawn on our coasts, though 

 it occurs regularly in the Channel during early winter, 

 November being the month of its greatest plenty in the 

 Plymouth district. These anchovies are looked upon as 

 belonging to shoals returning from the spawning-grounds in 

 the Zuyder Zee ; but Cunningham shows, on the evidence of 

 Returns in 1889 and 1890, that there is no direct relation 

 between abundance in any season in Holland and in our own 

 seas. Nor is there, as might perhaps be expected, a second 

 shoaling on our coasts on the return journey. 



The early development of this fish seems somewhat 

 doubtful. 



The egg differs in shape from other floating eggs, being 

 more elongated. Its length is about -^ in., and the yolk is 



