404 
AMERICAN FISHES. 
ordinated to the impulse of reproduction (which brings them into the 
river), is not wholly lost. 
A female Shad of a certain age is always larger than a male of corre¬ 
sponding age. A general average for both sexes along the whole coast 
would be about four pounds, the extremes—for males—being from one 
and a half to six pounds, and for females from three and a half to eight 
pounds, the latter representing a maximum weight for Shad at the present 
time ; although, in the early history of the fisheries, there are records of 
the capture of fish weighing eleven, twelve and as much as fourteen 
pounds. 
The Hickory Shad, or Mattowacca, Clupea mediocris , was first brought 
to notice in 1815 in Mitchill’s paper on the fishes of New York, wherein 
it was described under two names, being called the “ Staten Island ” 
Herring, C. mediocris , and the ‘‘Long Island” Herring, C. mattowacca. 
The latter name was adopted by Storer for the species, but more recent 
authorities, guided by a rather questionable interpretation of the rules of' 
priority, have substituted the name C. mediocris , because it was printed on 
the page preceding the other. Mitchill stated that the “ Long Island ” 
Herring occupied a middle station between the Shad and the “ Staten 
Island ” Herring, but it seems strange that so accomplished an ichthyolo¬ 
gist should not have at once perceived the identity of the two. The name 
“ mediocris ” was founded upon small specimens. The names given this 
species are as varied as those of the river Herrings. The name “ Matto¬ 
wacca ” is of Indian origin, and is said to have been derived from the 
Indian name for Long Island, Mattowaka or Mattowax. 
The name “ Hickory Shad ” is applied to this species on all parts of the. 
