974 
SCANDINAVIAN FISHES. 
THE SPRAT (sw. SKARPSILLEN OR HVASSBUKEN). 
CLUPEA SPRATTUS. 
Plate XLIV, fig. 2. 
Length of the base of the anal fin more than 1 4 of the distance between the ventral fins and the tip of the snout. 
Number of spines at the ventral margin 3.2 — 35°. 
R. br. 6 — 7*; D. ^^(17 — 19); A. ^-^-(18-20); 
P. — ; V. -V- 1 ; O. so + 1 + 17 4- 1 + «;■ Lin. lot. 47—50; 
15 — lb b c 
L. tr. 11 — 13; Vert. 46 — 49. 
Syn. Sprattns 1. Sparlingus (Harengorum foetura), Willughb., Hist. 
Pise., p. 221; Bay, Syn. Pise., p. 105; Latulus, Schonev., 
Ichthyol. Slesv. IJolsat., p. 41. Clupea quadrinncialis, ma- 
xilla iuferiore longiore, ventre acutissimo ( Spratt Anglis, 
Hvassbuk Suecis), Art. Icht., Gen., p. 7; Syn., p. 17; 
Spec., p. 33; Lin., Fna Snec., ed. I, p. 120. Brisling, 
Strom, Sondm. Beskr., p. 271. 
Clupea Sprattus, Lin., Syst. Nat., ed. X, tom. I, p. 318; 
Penn., Brit. Zool. (ed. Warrington, 1776), vol. Ill, p. 303; 
Retz., Fna Suec. Lin., p. 353; Swartz, Suensk Zoologi, 
vol. I, No. 28; Nilss., Prodr. Ichthyol. Scand., p. 22; 
Yarr., Brit. Fish., ed. I, vol. II, p. 121 ; Parn., Mem. 
Wern. Nat. Hist. Soc., vol. VII, p. 322, tab. XXXV; Kr., 
Voy. Scandin., Lappon., (Gaim.), Zool., Poiss., tab. 18; 
Damn. Fisk., vol. Ill, p. 177; Cov.. Val. ( Harengula ), 
Hist. Nat. Poiss., vol. XX, p. 285; Sund'ev. {Clupea), 
Stockh. L. Hush. Sails. Handl. 1855, pp. 81, 108, 185; Nilss., 
Skand. Fna, Fisk., p. 516; Mgrn, Finl. Fiskfna, p. 69; 
Lindstr., Gotl. Fisk., Gotl. L. Hush. Sails. Arsber. 1866, 
p. 20 (sep.); v. Bemm. {Harengula) in Herkl., Bouiust. 
Fna Nederl., part. Ill, p. 381; Gthr {Clupea), Cat. Brit. 
Mus., Fish., vol. VII, p. 419; Cole., Forli. Vid. Selsk. 
Chrnia 1874, Tillaagsb., p. 193; 1879, No. 1, p. 98; 
N. Mag. Naturv. Chrnia, Bd. 29 (1884), p. 112; Seidl., 
Fna Balt., p. 98; Malm, Gbgs, Boh. Fna, p. 582; 
Winth., Naturh. Tidskr. Kbhvn, ser. 3, vol. XII, p. 48; 
Mor. {Meletta), Hist. Nat. Poiss., Fr., tom. Ill, p. 447 ; 
Bncke {Clupea), Fisch., Fischer., Fischz. O., W. Preicss., 
p. 172; Hcke, Var. Her., VII Ber. Comm. Deutsch. M., 
pp. 45 et 60; Mela, Vert. Fenn., p. 354, tab. X; Day, 
Fish. Gt. Brit., Irel., vol. II, p. 231, tab. CXXXIX, fig. 2; 
M6b., Hcke, Fisch. Osts., p. 139; Lillj., Sv., Norg. Fislc., 
vol. Ill, p. 97. 
Clupea Schoneveldii, Kr., Voy. Gaim., 1. c., Damn. Fiske, vol. 
Ill, p. 193. 
Spratella pumila, Cuv., Val., 1. c., p. 357 + Meletta vul- 
garis, p. 366; tabb. 600 et 603. 
The Sprat is in most respects so like the Herring 
that a detailed description is unnecessary. It is, how- 
a According to Heincke. 
6 Sometimes 8, according to KrGyer. 
c Sometimes 7, according to Heincke. 
d With 88 mm. as the average length. 
e With 120 mm. as the average length. 
ever, a much smaller fish, measuring at most about 17 
cm. to the tips of the caudal lobes; but at this smaller 
size it has undergone changes of growth in many re- 
spects more complete: it is, in a word, a more fully 
developed Herring form. This appears, for instance, in 
the length of the lower jaw, a measurement which we 
have never found to exceed 53 % of the length of the 
head, whereas in the Herring it has never proved less 
than 55 % of the same. In this character the altera- 
tions of growth run in decreasing percentages from the 
young to the older specimens. 
In Swedish the Sprat has been distinguished from 
the preceding species by the name of sharp sill (Sharp 
Herring), a reference to its most palpable characteristic 
in most cases, the sharper ventral margin, with more 
prominent spines on the ventral plates; but this char- 
acter is often illusory. A more trustworthy distinction 
is the difference in the number of the ventral plates, 
which in the Sprat does not exceed 35, 20 — 24 (com- 
monly 22 — 23) in front of the ventral fins and 9 — 13. 
(commonly 11) behind them. 
The form of the body is the same and shows the 
same variations as in the Herring, being deeper or 
shallower, but in the deeper form of Sprat ( Clupea 
Schoneveldii) the ventral profile is still more curved in 
comparison with the dorsal. During the growth of the 
body from a length of 66 mm. to one of 104 mm/ 
(from the tip of the snout to the end of the middle 
caudal rays), the least depth of the body has proved 
to be on an average 7'1 % of the length thereof; and 
during growth from 108 — 147 mm. e we have found 
this average to be 8*1. 
The head shows the peculiarity that the eyes are 
generally somewhat larger than in the Herring. During 
growth from a length of 73 mm. to one of 147 mm. 
