976 
SCANDINAVIAN FISHES. 
In the Mediterranean the Sprat is replaced by a 
very closely allied species, the Melette of the French, 
Clupea phalerica 0 . Judging from a specimen 90 mm. 
long, taken off Genoa, and sent to ns by Professor 
Giglioli, the Melette is distinguished from the Sprat 
by the greater depth of the tail, the more advanced 
position of the dorsal tin, and the somewhat greater 
size of the head. Its relations to the Sprat in these 
respects are most readily indicated by the following 
table of percentages: 
Averages 
One specimen 
in 
of 
Clupea sprattus. 
Clupea phalerica 
Length of the body from the articular knobs of the maxillaries to the end of the middle caudal rays, mm _ 
87.7 
120 
90 
Length of the head in % of the length of the body 
21.2 b 
20.8 
22.2 
Distance between the dorsal fin and the articular knobs of the maxillaries ,, ,, „ „ „ „ „ „ 
49.9 c 
50.7 
47.8 
Least depth of the tail - „ „ „ „ „ „ „ „ 
7.1 
8.1 d 
8.8 
Leugth of the head __ in % of the distance between the dorsal fin and the articular knobs of the maxillaries 
42.5 e 
41.0 
46.5 
Least depth of the tail ,, n u 55 •? ?? ?? ?? ?? 
14.3 
16.0/ 
I 8.1 
The Sprat is common from Trondhjem Fjord (Col- 
lett) to La Rochelle (Valenciennes). It is said to oc- 
cur, though scantily, northwards to the Lofoden Islands, 
as G. 0. Sars was informed by the fishermen, and 
southwards in the Bay of Biscay beyond the Gironde (Mo- 
reau). In Scandinavia it is most common off the south- 
west of Norway and the coast of Bohuslan; but it is 
taken in numbers within the Baltic, and is common, 
according to Mela, throughout the Gulf of Finland, as 
well as in the Gulf of Bothnia up to lat. 64° N., rarer 
to lat. 65°. On the Baltic coast of Russia, according 
to Seidlitz (1. c.), only solitary specimens are met with 
that have attained full growth and sexual maturity, 
though the young are plentiful. Off Memel and Dant- 
zic spawning Sprats are common in May and September; 
and in Putzinger Wiek (the eastern part of the Gulf of 
Dantzic), says Benecke, countless spent Sprats may be 
seen in the May spawning- season floating dead at the 
surface. In Kiel Bay the Sprat is also common. On 
all the coasts of Denmark the Sprat occurs, though only 
at a few points in any great number (Wintiier). In the 
Zuyder Zee and all round Great Britain it is as plen- 
tiful as anywhere in Scandinavian waters. 
The Sprat-shoals live and feed in the same man- 
ner as the Herring-shoals, and often intermingle with 
the latter. It is, we may say, a rare occurrence to 
take any quantity of Strommings or small Herrings 
without finding a number of Sprats in the catch; and 
in the same ivay small Herrings are found interspersed 
among a haul of Sprats. The Sprat-fishery cannot in- 
deed be so productive in most cases as the Herring- 
fishery, the Sprat being a much smaller fish; but con- 
sidering the size of the fish the Sprat-shoals are hardly 
inferior in point of numbers or density to the Herring- 
shoals. The same gregariousness, the same manner of 
life, and the same diet conjoin the two species with 
each other. They are also so similar in appearance 
that only a practised eye can distinguish between them, 
unless the observer has experience enough to feel the 
difference in the sharpness of the ventral margin. 
The spawning-season of the Sprat occurs within 
the island-belt of Stockholm, according to the joint 
observations of Sundevall and Cederstrom, in June. 
In the west of the Baltic, according to Heincke, the 
Sprat spawns both in spring and autumn. He observed 
in Kiel Bay during the months of July and August 
Sprat-fry 25 — 35 mm. long, which he assumed to date 
from the spawning in April and May, and during the 
latter part of October and till December other speci- 
mens 23 V 2 — 33 V 2 mm. long, which could consequently 
not have been spawned, in all probability, earlier than 
in July. Malm found in July and August at Strom- 
stad and off Gaso (Bohuslan) young Sprats 20 — 57 mm. 
long, which would thus seem to be the offspring of a 
“ Melet'tes , Belon, p. 208. Apliya phalerica , Rond., p. 212. Glupanodon phalerica , Risso, Ear. Mer., tom. Ill, p. 452; Mor. 
(Clupea), III, p. 445. Meletta mediterranea, Cuv., Val., XX, p. 369. Alosa papalina , Canestr., Fna D'ltal., Peso., p. 135. 
6 Maximum in the specimens measured by us 21 
c Minimum ,, „ ,, ,, „ „ 48 
d Maximum „ ,, ,, ,, ,, ,, 8 
e 4 a 
11 11 11 11 11 11 11 
11 ii 11 'I 11 11 
/ 
