90 
BULLETIN OE THE BUREAU OP FISHERIES 
usually slightly nearer tip of snout than vertical from end of base of anal; caudal fin forked, the 
lobes nearly symmetrical; anal fin a little longer than the dorsal, but lower, the anterior rays only 
slightly longer than the posterior ones, its origin nearly equally distant from base of ventrals and 
base of caudal; ventral fins rather small, pointed, inserted about midway between the base of the 
pectorals and the origin of the anal; pectoral fins moderate, similar to the ventrals but larger, 
1.2 to 2 in head. 
Color grayish-green with metallic luster above, sides silvery; a dark spot at shoulder (rarely 
developed in the young of less than 100 millimeters (4 inches) in length). Rows of scales with 
indistinct dark lines, which are present only in the adult, appearing somewhat later in life than the 
dark shoulder spot. Fins all plain, slightly greenish or yellowish in life; the dorsal and caudal with 
dusky punctulations; peritoneum pale. 
Numerous specimens, ranging from 30 to 284 millimeters in length, have been examined. 
This species is recognized by the large eye (which is longer than the snout at all ages), by the deep 
body and by the pale peritoneum. The young of this species do not differ greatly from the adults, 
except that the body is scarcely as deep, the eye is proportionately larger, and the gill rakers are 
fewer in number. The sexes are very similar, but the dorsal fin in the male appears to be a little 
higher. The difference in size of the sexes, as shown by a limited number of weights and measure- 
ments, is not pronounced. The female, however, 
appears to reach a slightly greater length and weight. 
In 12 stomachs examined, taken from fish rang- 
ing in length from 83 to 178 millimeters (3J4 to 7 
inches) examined by Linton, the principal food of 
the smallest specimens consisted of copepods; in the 
medium-sized and in the largest ones it consisted of 
Mysis. In 7 large fish, 2 stomachs were empty, 2 
had fed wholly on Mysis, and 3 wholly on fish. 
The authors examined 6 stomachs of specimens 
taken in fresh water during the summer, ranging in 
length 50 to 70 millimeters, and found 2 stomachs 
empty, 2 fish had fed wholly on copepods, one con- 
tained a worm, and the smallest had fed on ostra- 
cods. Stomachs of five larger specimens, taken in 
salt water in the bay during March, ranging from 
90 to 178 millimeters in length, contained Mysis 
only, and these had been eaten in great numbers. 
In this species, as in the common shad, the cceca, connected with the intestine near the stomach, 
are very small or wanting in the young and become greatly developed with age. 
This fish enters streams in the spring to spawn, and when this purpose is accomplished the 
adult again returns to the ocean, where most of its life is spent. The young remain in fresh water 
throughout the first summer of their lives, but with the approach of cool weather they gradually 
migrate to salt water, but they do not all leave the fresh or brackish water (of the Potomac River) 
until late in the fall, as specimens have been taken as late as November 11 at Bryans Point, Md., 
and at Riverside, Md., as late as December 3. The majority of the young evidently pass through 
Chesapeake Bay without stopping and migrate directly to the ocean, but we have specimens taken 
in the deeper waters of the bay throughout the winter months, indicating that at least some of 
them do not enter the ocean until they are a year or more old. Measurements of specimens indi- 
date that a few fish may stay in the bay until they are 2 years old. The movements and the life 
history of the branch herring during the period or periods spent in the ocean are very imperfectly 
understood. “During the summer months enormous schools of full grown but sexually imma- 
ture alewives migrate along the coast.” (Bean, 1903, p. 201.) Further information concerning 
the fish after it enters the sea is wanting. 
The branch herring generally reach fresh-water streams in the spring three or four weeks 
earlier than the glut herring and they also precede the first run of shad. In the Chesapeake 
drainage they usually arrive some time in March. This fish runs far upstream to spawn, fre- 
Fig. 52 .— Pomolobas pseudoharengus. Note broad check 
bone and deep mandible with pronounced angle on its 
upper margin 
