( 257 ) 



APPENDIX F. — No. VII. 



ON THE STRUCTURE OF THE HERRING AND OTHER 



CLUPEOIDS. Part I. — The Skeleton. By J. Duncan 

 Matthews. 



With Plates XV.-XVI1L 



Although many points in the anatomy of the herring have been more 

 or less thoroughly examined and described, there seems to have been no 

 systematic and detailed description of its anatomy accomplished. 

 Valencienne's account is in many respects erroneous and superficial, while 

 his drawing of the skeleton is useless. The skull has only been indirectly 

 referred to by Weber in connection with his most accurate account of the 

 ear, and most other references to the anatomy of the herring are short and 

 scattered, the fuller accounts of the Teleostean skeleton having been made 

 from altogether distinct genera. The following description has been pre- 

 pared to supply this want so far as the skeleton is concerned. The 

 British herring, for obvious reasons, has been chosen as the type to be 

 described in detail, and notes of the more important differences occurring 

 in other members of the Clupeidae, limited meantime to those of British 

 seas — the twaite and allis shads, the pilchard, and sprat — are added. In 

 describing the herring's skeleton, a detailed account of variations, such as 

 occur in the number of vertebrae, fin-rays, &c, is omitted. The more 

 minute and detailed examination has been made entirely on West Coast of 

 Scotland herring, supplemented, however, by references to other herrings 

 (which showed exactly similar relations in every respect except enumera- 

 tion). Of the fin and other variations a complete account will be found 

 in another paper.* 



The Vertebra. 



The vertebral column, like that of other fishes, can be divided into 

 only a trunk and caudal portion, and these may be distinguished only 

 by the presence of the ribs and complete haemal arches, the form of the 

 vertebrae being no guide. It consists of a variable number of vertebrae, 

 generally 56 to 58, which differ in size only to a small extent. They 

 vary somewhat in their relative size in different fish, but the following 

 account is fairly typical : — 



The first vertebra is only about half the length of the others, except the 

 second, which is only slightly longer than the first, sometimes indeed 

 very slightly so. The recognition of two short anterior vertebrae forms a 

 necessary evidence in counting the vertebrae that all are included, other- 

 wise the anterior one is, from its sometimes very short length, liable to be 

 overlooked. The longest vertebrae are those between the 30th and 40th 

 in position. There is not much variation in length from the 3rd to the 

 45th, but they generally increase in length slightly up to the 30th and 



* " Report as to Variety among the Herrings of the Scottish Coasts," by J. Duncan 

 Matthews, Part 1, Fourth, Part 2, Fifth Annual Report of Fishery Board for 

 Scotland. 



2 K 



