2o8 SALT-WATER FISHES 



covered with a network, like that of the pilchard, but has no 

 oil-globule. It hatches out (at about 60°) in two or three 

 days, and the larva is then rather more than ^2 i^- The 

 anchovy appears to develop rapidly, though its earlier stages 

 have been but imperfectly studied. It is also said to spawn 

 when two years old. Until 1896 no eggs of this fish had 

 been obtained on our coasts. 



Many attempts have been made to induce the fishermen to 

 use finer-meshed nets to catch British anchovies, and it has 

 even been said that these are, even if caught, not suitable for 

 curing purposes. Cunningham mentions having sent some for 

 trial to the celebrated dealers Messrs. Burgess, who said that 

 those from Gorgona were far better ; but that firm more 

 recently assured the writer that the experiment had never 

 been made on a scale sufficient for commercial test. 



The Twaite and AUis Shad (C finta and C. alosa) can 

 hardly be omitted from this work on account of the similarity 

 of their breeding habits and those of the excluded salmon or 

 smelt, for they are essentially marine fishes that have taken to 

 fresh-water breeding-haunts. There are several British rivers 

 particularly noted for shad, among them being the Tay, Wye, 

 and Severn. Of the last two Mr. Willis Bund, whose know- 

 ledge of the district, as Chairman for so many years of the 

 Severn Fishery Board, is perhaps unique, writes to me 

 (March 12th, 1902) : 



" Shad run up the Severn and Wye, very far up the latter. 

 Both the twaite and allis shad run up the Severn, but the latter 

 very rarely gets up to the fresh water, and comes in far smaller 

 numbers than the twaite. I do not know any special law for 

 their protection, but a smaller-meshed net is allowed in the 

 Severn when they are in the river than is allowed at other 

 times. The point that you suggest, whether they come under 

 the Fresh-water Fisheries Act, has never to my knowledge 

 arisen, and I do not well see how it can, for the fresh-water 

 fish are almost all caught with rod and line, and the person 



