194 



THE YOUNG NATURALIST. 



was at one time written about the parr, and considering the anomalies of salmon growth, 

 it would be unsafe to dogmatise on the sprat question. As to the serrated belly, we 

 might look upon it as we do the tucks of a child's frock, viz., as a provision for growth. 

 .. ..The slaughter of sprats which is annually carried on in our seas is, I suspect, as 

 decidedly a killing of the goose for the sake of the golden eggs, as the grilse slaughter, 

 which is annually carried on in our salmon rivers.' As to this writer's statement that 

 the serrations on the belly of the sprat may be regarded in the same light as the 1 tucks 

 in a child's frock, viz., a provision for growth,' and that milt and roe have seldom been 

 found in that species, as also other writers such as Parnell, in the Magazine of Zoology 

 and Botany, for 1837, who says that the ' serrations on the belly are to be found in all 

 young herrings, and as they advance in size these serrations get worn off or disappear, 

 through the belly of the fish expanding in breadth, and when the fish come to have 

 milt and roe, these serrations get quite obliterated.' All these statements can, I think, 

 be clearly shown to be quite fallacious, and do not in any way agree with the facts of 

 the case. First, because I. am satisfied, from the examination of a large number of both 

 species, at all stages of growth, that the herring has no serrations on the belly at any 

 stage of its existence, while on the other hand, the larger the sprat becomes the more dis- 

 tinct do these serrations appear. Second, as has been pointed out by other writers, 

 the fins of the two species are differently placed ; and this, of course, holds good at 

 every stage of their existence. In the herring, the dorsal fin is about a third of its own 

 length in front of the ventral fins, while, in the sprat, the same organ is usually about a 

 fourth of its length behind the ventrals. Third, the head of the herring is longer than 

 that of the sprat, measuring individuals of the same length of body. Fourth, the colour 

 of the two fish is different. Fifth, sprats are thicker, what we might call broader 

 shouldered, than herrings of the same length. Sixth, a most important point is that the 

 anatomy of the two fish is different, in so far as the herring has from fifty-five to fifty- 

 eight vertebrae, never less than fifty-five, what the sprat has but forty-seven to forty- 

 eight. This difference has been pointed out by previous writers. An additional point 

 in their being distinct species is, in the herring having well developed articular pro- 

 cesses on a number of the vertebrae. These processes arise from the base of the trans- 

 verse processes of each vertebra, pointing towards the head of the fish, and are of a 

 long needle-like form, whilst, in the sprat, the same organs are merely represented by 

 short obtuse knobs. I am not aware of this difference in the two fish ever having been 

 noticed before, and, as will be seen, it is evidence of considerable value in proof of the 

 two fish being distinct : evidence also that the observation of previous writers has been 

 rather loose. 



" In addition to what has been already advanced, it may be stated that many sprats 

 caught about the month of December will be found with milt and roe far advanced to- 

 wards maturity, some of which I possess, while herrings of the same size, and consider- 

 ably larger, have nothing such ; that is in sprats of 5^ inches long, which is about their 

 average length, the milt and roe are almost fully developed, while herrings of from 6 to 

 7 inches long have these organs in the lowest possible stage." 



I have quoted this extract at length rather than put it into words of my 

 own. It seems perfectly conclusive that the sprat and the herring are two 

 different fish. I make no pretence of being an Ichthyologist, but only one 

 who tries to go through the world with his eyes open, and to pick up a trifle | 

 of information on whatever subject I feel interested. My error was in taking 

 for granted what was said by these authors, whose writings I had had the J 



