History of British animals - University of Guam Marine Laboratory

theEngralis. FISHES. MALACOPTERYGIOUS. 183Length about a foot. Dusky green above ; silvery beneath. Scales deciduous.D. 17. P. 17. v. 9 Inhabits the deep water. When the spawningseason approaches, herringsare found near the shore, in bays and estuaries.Their migrationsto and from the Arctic Circle, givenin detail by Pennant,have no existence in nature. The fry or sill enter the mouths of rivers, andhave even been caught with a trout-fly.52. C. Pilcardus. Pilchard.— Anal fin about 17 rayed.Thedorsal fin placed in the centre of gravity.Alosa minor, Merr. Pin. 185. Sibb. Scot. 23— Harengus minor, Will.Ich. 223. Penn. Brit. Zool. iii. 343 ; S, Crue-herring—Common onthe Cornish coast ; rare in Scotland.Length about a foot. The body is rounder than in the herring; the snoutand under jaw shorter; back more elevated; and the scales larger.D. 18.P. 16. v. 8, c. 32 This fish appearsin vast shoals off the Cornish coasts,about July. Like . herring, however, they are capriciousin their movements.The fry of the herring and pilchard are confounded together under the epithetSprat. The position of the dorsal fin, in reference to gravity, furnishes,however, an obvious mark of distinction.53. C. Alosa. Shad.— Snout bifid. The mucous ducts onthe gill-covers elegantlybranched.Alosa seu Clupea, Merr. Pin. 190. Will. Ich. 227—C. Alosa, Linn. Syst.i. 523. Penn. Brit. Zool. iii. 348. Fletn. Phil. Zool. tab. iii. f. 1—E, Mother of Herrings ; 5, Elf Herring.— In the sea and large rivers.Length about 18 inches. Above greenish-black sides and ; belly silvery.The under jaw D.longest.20. (the first four short and simple) P. 16. v. 9.A. 21. Tail greatly forked, and on each side a large scale, with its mesialedge free. I have taken fine young herrings, about 3 inches in length, fromthe stomach of this fish. The shad leaves the sea in May, and enters therivers for the purpose of spawning. It is not unfrequently taken by the salmon-nets.The fry is well known in the Thames by the name of White Bait,appearing near Blackwall and Greenwich during the month of July.Gen. XXV. ENCRASICHOLUS.long and straight.Belly smooth.Anchovy—Maxiilaries54. E. Encrasicolus.— Dorsal and ventral fins opposite*Will. Ich. app. 27. Ray, Syn. — Pise. 107 Clupea En. Linn. Syst.i. 523.Penn. Brit. Zool. iii. 347- Don. Brit. Fishes, tab. 4 In the sea anda few of the English rivers.Length about 6 inches. Back green, semi-pellucid ; sides and belly silvery.Upper jaw produced. D. 15, P. 15, v. 7, A. 14, C. 24. Considerable quantitiesare imported from the Mediterranean, in a pickled state.The claims of the Lepisosteus osseus (which may readily be recognized bythe osseous scales with which it is to protected),rank as a British fish, areery doubtful. Berkenhout inserts it in his Synopsis, p. 81. with the habitatSussex coast ; and Stewart, in his Elements, vol. i. 374. intimates its occurrencein the Frith of Forth.