109 
i 
ApJiya phalerica, 
Olupea sprattus, 
« (t 
it ft 
SPRAT. 
Eondeletitts. 
Akteui. Linnaeus. 
Yakrell; Br. Fishes, vol. ii, p. 197. 
Jbsyns; Manual, p. 435. 
"Willoughby -was so far misled concerning tHs fish, as to 
regard it as the early condition of the Herring and Pilchard; 
but although Artedi definitely distinguished it from both these 
fishes, in this he was only so far followed by his friend 
Linnteus, that he makes the Herring to be a separate fish 
from the Sprat, without noticing the Pilchard as distinct from 
both. But after such evidence, with the opportunities of 
inqniry within his reach, it appears remarkable that Dr. 
Fleming continues the error of Willoughby, by still supposing 
the Sprat to be no other than the young of the above-named 
fishes. How little the true Sprat is known in the Mediterranean 
appears from Eisso, who supposes it to be the same with the 
Sardine, which fish more closely resembles the Pilchard, although 
probably also distinct fi'om it. 
The Sprat is known in the German Ocean and the Baltic, 
and from thence round the British Islands, as along the coasts 
of France, as also in the west portion of the Mediterranean, 
as I learn from a private communication of Dr. Gulia, of 
Malta; and wherever it occurs it is a social fish like others 
of this genus. Dr. ParneU remarks that “they are found 
in the Firth of Forth through the whole year, and like 
many small animals appear very susceptible of cold. During 
the warm summer months they are seen sporting about in 
large shoals in every part of the Forth.” But although at 
times abundant in the west of England, it is found there less 
frequently than on the more eastward coast of the kingdom. 
It also disappears there more completely than the before-named 
