PACIFIC HERRING 
243 
each, the 1925 samples 100 fish each. The samples whose measurements are used in 
this report are as follows: 
4 
Date 
Num- 
ber 
Locality 
Date 
Num- 
ber 
Locality 
1924 
1925 
July 17 
1 
Elrington Passage. 
June 25 
2 
Elrington Passage. 
IS 
l 
Do. 
26 
4 
Do. 
18 
1 
Prince of Wales Passage (Elrington Passage). 
27 
2 
Do. 
19 
1 
Do. 
July 10 
2 
Do. 
21 
1 
Do. 
11 
2 
Do. 
24 
1 
Do. 
12 
1 
Do. 
25 
1 
Do. 
12 
2 
Cape Elrington (Elrington Passage). 
26 
i 
Do. 
13 
1 
Do. 
28 
i 
Do. 
13 
2 
Elrington Passage. 
29 
i 
Do. 
14 
2 
Do. 
15 
2 
Do. 
1925 
16 
1 
Do. 
June 22 
2 
Elrington Passage. 
23 
1 
Do. 
24 
2 
Do. 
25 
2 
Do. 
BIOLOGY OF THE PACIFIC HERRING 
SYSTEMATIC RELATIONSHIPS 
The family Clupeidse contains many of the most important commercial fishes 
of the world. The herring occupies first place, followed by the menhaden, the sar- 
dines or pilchards, the shads, the alewives, the lake herrings, and many others of 
minor importance. The sardine or pilchard, Sardina, is perhaps the closest relative 
to the genus Clupea, which contains the herrings. Both genera contain Atlantic and 
Pacific species. 
It is fitting that a survey be made of the degree of relationship existing between 
the Atlantic and Pacific herrings, Clupea harengus and C. pallasii, in order to justify 
the use in this investigation of some of the methods of research employed upon the 
Atlantic species. In Jordan and Evermann (1896, pp. 421-2), the European or 
Atlantic herring, C. harengus L., is described as having 18 dorsal rays, 17 anal rays, 
57 scales on the lateral line, and 56 vertebrae; the Pacific herring, C. pallasii Cuv. 
and Yah, as having 16 dorsal rays, 14 anal rays, 52 scales on the lateral line, and 50 
vertebrae. When the Pacific form was described as a separate species, only speci- 
mens from the southern portion of the range were obtained, and, due to the fact that 
they differed widely from the Atlantic species in vertebral count, etc., the two were 
considered to be well defined. But we have had specimens of the Pacific form cover- 
ing its range from San Diego Bay, near the Mexican border, to Golovin Bay in the 
northern part of the Bering Sea. Examination of these more representative samples 
shows that the differences between the two forms are not clear-cut, as one would 
infer from the taxonomic descriptions. 
A summary of “racial” work on the European herring, by himself and other 
investigators, has been written by Johansen (1924). The total range of the vertebral 
count, excluding the hypural, in the North Sea and adjacent waters, is from 50 to 
59 or a range of 10. For the Pacific herring (Table 6) the total range is from 45 to 
57, or 13. The averages for the European herring (exclusive of the White Sea) vary 
from 53.78 for Zuider Zee herring (Delsman, 1914) to about 56.50 for Norwegian 
herring. Within the White Sea the averages of different “races” vary from 52.14 to 
56.18 (Averinzev, 1926). For the Pacific herring the averages vary from 50.68 to 
54.67. It is plain that the vertebral count is not a specific character in this case. In 
the White Sea herring the dorsal rays range from 16 to 22, with averages from 18.20 
to 18.95; in the Pacific herring, from 15 to 21, with averages from 18.70 to 19.36. 
The anal rays range from 13 to 19, with means of 16.30 to 17.35 in the White Sea; 
i 
