The caudal fin is deeply forked; the depth of the fin at its extremities, when expanded, is equal to the height of the outer rays. The fin rays are as follows: D. 19; P. 15, 16, or 17; V. 6; A. 20, 21, or 22; C. 204. Length, eight to fourteen inches. [From Dekay's "Zoology of New York," Part IV., Fishes, 1842, p. 259.] THE MOSSBONKER. Alosa menhaden. (Plate XXI, Fig. 60.) Bony-fish or Mossbonker. Clupea menhaden. MITCHILL, Report in part, &c., p. 21. Hard-head or Marsbankers. C. menhaden. Id. Trans. Lit. and Phil. Soc., vol. 1, p. 453. The Menhaden, Hard-head. Alosa menhaden. STORER, Massachusetts, Report, p. 117. Characteristics.-Silvery; no stripes; a humeral spot. A double accessory ray to the ventrals. Abdomen serrated behind the ventrals. Length 10-14 inches. Description.-Body much compressed; its height to its length as one to four nearly. Abdomen cultrate, with a fissure along its edge, indistinctly serrated before the ventrals, sharply serrate behind. Scales large, elliptical, distinctly and evenly ciliate on the free margins; on the back smaller and more crowded; on the nape the scales have longer unequal ciliæ. No appearance of a lateral line. Head large, compressed, one-third of the total length; the opercles with curved and radiating striæ. Mouth large, the upper jaw emarginate on the side. The gill membrane on one side folds over its opposite, with five slender cylindrical, and three larger and flat rays. Branchial arches four, with a small rudimentary one in front, all angular, and with a long minutely fringed filament. Eyes nearly covered by a nictitating membrane. Tongue soft, white, minutely punctate with black. The dorsal fin long, emarginate; the first three rays simple, articulated; the anterior being very short, the remainder branched; first branchial ray highest, the last higher than the four preceding. This fin is concave on its margin, and is placed in a sheath. Pectorals long and pointed on a line with the margin of the opercles; the first ray simple; the accessory plate large and as long as the fifth ray. Ventrals feeble, short, fan-shaped, lying under the anterior portion of the dorsal, with double accessory plates. Anal long and low, the two first rays simple, the first shortest; the last ray longer than the fourteen preceding. Scales covering the base of the rays, so as to form a sort of sheath. Caudal forked, much branched, and with numerous accessory rays. Scales extending high up on the fin, and very minute ones distributed ulmost to the tip. Abdomen covered internally with a black pigment. Intestines long and convoluted; cæca numerous, attached to a stout muscular stomach, lined with a white rugose membrane, covered with numerous papillæ. Airbladder simple. Color.-Summit of the head and back greenish; silvery on the sides. In the plates, more of a yellow hue is given to this fish than belongs to bim. A dark brown spot on the shoulders, behind the opercles. Irides yellow. A space anterior to the eyes so translucent as to permit opaque objects to be seen through on the other side. Length 8.0-14.0. Fin-rays, D. 20; P. 16; V. 6; A. 22; C. 204. This fish is known under the various names of bony-fish, hard-head, mossbonkers (or, as it is pronounced by our Dutch inhabitants, morsebonkers), panhagen, and menhaden; the last being the name given by the Manhattans, and panhagen (pronounced panhangen) the Narragansett epithet. At the east end of the island, they are called skippangs, or bunkers. Although seldom eaten, as it is dry, without flavor, and full of bones, yet it is one of the most valuable fish found within our waters. Its use as a manure is well known in the counties of Suffolk, Kings, and Queens, where it is a source of great wealth to the farmer who lives upon the sea-coast. They are used in various ways: for Indian corn, two or three are thrown on a hill; for wheat, they are thrown broadcast on the field, and plowed under; although it is not uncommon to put them in layers alternately with common mold, and when decomposed spread it like any other compost. Its effects in renovating old grass-fields, when spread over with these fish at the rate of about two thousand to the acre, are very remarkable. Its value, however, as a manure has one drawback in the abominable and unhealthy stench which poisons the whole country, and, according to the testimony of some medical writers, lays the foundation of dysenteries and autumnal fevers. They appear on the shores of Long Island about the beginning of June, in immense schools; and as they frequently swim with a part of the head above or near the surface of the water, they are readily seen and captured. They are commonly sold on the spot at the rate of $2 the wagon-load, containing about a thousand fish. The largest haul I remember to have heard of was through the surf at Bridgehampton, at the east end of the island. Eighty-four wagon loads, or, in other words, 84,000 of these fish were taken at a single haul. On the coast of Massachusetts they are used as bait for mackerel, cod, and halibut; and many are packed away for exportation to the West Indies. According to Dr. Storer, in 1836, 1,488 barrels were thus salted down for exportation. I am not aware that its geographical limits pass beyond the coast of New Hampshire on one side, and Chesapeake Bay on the other. [From Cuvier and Valenciennes' "Histoire Naturelle des Poissons," vol. xx, p. 421.] L'ALOSE MENHADEN. (Alausa menhaden, nob.) Cette clupée, très abondante aux Etats-Unis, l'un des produits considé rables des vastes fleuves de cette contrée, est éminemment remarquable par la grosseur de sa tête et par la hauteur de la région pectorale du tronc; elle égale trois fois et demie la hauteur de la queue. La longueur de la tête surpasse en quelque peu cette hauteur, et elle est comprise trois fois dans la distance entre le bout du museau et la naissance de la caudale. Ces proportions moutrent que le corps est extrémement trapu. La mâchoire supérieure ne dépasse pas l'inférieure. L'oeil est recouvert d'une double paupiére adipeuse três-épaisse. L'opercule a de fines stries et de jolies très agréablment ramifiées. De fines stries rayonnantes couvrent l'opercule; il y en a aussi vers le bas du préopercule. Le sous-opercule et l'interopercule sont très grands. La ceinture humérale est étroite. La dorsale est sur le milieu de la longueur du tronc. Les nombres des rayons de ces nageoires ne diffèrent pas de ceux des autres espèces. D. 19; A. 19; C. 27; P. 15; V. 7. Les écailles sont finement et longument ciliées. Leur portion libre est petite; la partie radicale a des stries verticales et parallèles au bord. De chaque côté du dos ou remarque deux rangées d'écailles beaucoup plus profondément ciliées, et que, en s'enchevêtrant sur la ligne moyenne, forment une singulière gouttière le long de cette ligue. Des écailles membraneuses font une gouttière assez profonde, dans laquelle s'engage la dorsale. Une tache d'un bleu foncé existe sur le haut de l'epaule, et se conserve parfaitement sur les individus gardés depuis longtemps dans l'alcool. Le dos est verdâtre; tout le reste du poisson brille d'un vif éclat argenté. Nous avons recu de nombreux individus de cette espèce. Les plus grands n'ont que treize a quatorze pouces. M. M. Milbert et Lesueur les ont envoyés en abondance des marchés de New York et de Philadelphie. M. Bosc avait rapporté l'espèce de la Caroline, et récemment M. Holbroock m'en a envoyé d'autres exemplaires des marchés de Charlestown. Enfin, M. le comte de Castélman en a convoyé de l'embouchure de l' Hudson. L'espèce a paru pour la première fois dans le mémoire de M. Mitchill sous le nom que nous lui conservons. Nous la retrouvous dans les ouvrages de MM. Storer et Dekay. Celui-ci en a donné une bell figure, et le premier de ces auteurs a fait connaître le nombre considérable de barils que l'on exporte chaque aunée. Comme c'est un poisson très-huileux, on s'en sert plutôt comme engrais ou comme amorce, surtout pour les grands Flétans (Peuronectes hippoglossus). C'est sous ce rapport qu'il devient l'objet d'un commerce considérable. Au nom de Menhaden, qui est une de ses dénominations vulgaries, il faut ajouter celle de Panhagen et de Mossbonkers ou de Bonyfish, etc. [From Uhler & Lugger's List of the Fishes of Maryland, 1876, p. 133.] BREVOORTIA MENHADEN. Ale-wife, or Menhaden. Body elongated, compressed. Its depth across, at the base of the pectorals, less than one-fifth the length of the fish; length of the head more than one-third the length of it. Gill-covers very large. Upper part of body greenish-brown, darker upon the top of the head and at the snout; upper part of the sides in the living fish rose-colored and mottled with blue, which disappear in death; abdomen silvery; a black spot, more or less distinct, upon the shoulders; whole surface of the fish iridescent. Length 10 to 14 inches. Fin-rays: D. 19; P. 15-17; V. 6; A. 18-22; C. 20. B. menhaden, MITCH., Lit. and Phil. Trans. New York, i. p. 453, pl. 5, fig. 7. Alosa menhaden, Storer, Report Fish. Massach., p. 117; DEKAY, York Faun., Fish., p. 259, pl. 21, fig. 60; AYERS, Boston Jour. Nat. Hist., iv, p. 275; STORER, Mem. Am. Ac., vi. p. 337, pl. 26, fig. 3. Brevoortia menhaden, GILL., Proc. Ac. Nat. Sc. Philad., 1861, p. 37. Common on the Atlantic coast of Worcester County and even entering Sinepuxent Bay, also in vast shoals in Chesapeake Bay, particularly about the mouths of the great rivers of both peninsulas. They have been extensively used for manure by the farmers living near the coast, where they are caught by untold thousands in the large seines. Acad. Coll. S. I. [From Perley's Reports on the Sea and River Fisheries of New Brunswick, 1852, p. 208.] SPECIES 3.-Alosa menhaden-THE MOSSBONKER. This fish is known by a variety of popular names, among which are "bony-fish," "hard-head," "pauhagen," and "menhaden." It is seldom eaten, being dry, without flavor, and full of bones. On the coast of the United States it is used as bait for cod, and also extensively as manure for renovating old grass-fields, but not without injury to the health of those who reside in the vicinity. The mossbonker is sometimes caught in the weirs, within the harbor of Saint John, in considerable numbers; it has occasionally been sold to the ignorant for fall shad, to which it bears some resemblance. The mossbonker is exclusively a sea-fish, never entering the fresh water. [From Gray's "Catalogue of Fish, collected and described by Lawrence Theodore Gronow, now in the British Museum," 1854, p. 140.] CLUPEA CAROLINENSIS-M. G. B. M. Clupea immaculata argentea abdomine anteriore prominulo dentato: lateribus amplissimis. Habitat gregatim ad Carolinam Meridionalem. Longitudo tota quinque pollicaris et altitudo maxima paulo ante pinnam dorsalem est unius polliciscum deinidio. Dorsum rectum, convexum, capitiparrellelum. Caput cathetoplateum, cranium rectum convexiusculum; utringue compressum subtus augustatum carinatum adscendens a juncturis branchiarum versus os. Oculi magni, ori proximi: mystaces lalissimæ oseæ pellucidæ inermes Marilla inferior augusta, acuminata, oblique sursum spectans, ad superio rem adductilis. Opercula planiuscula, latissima, splendedissima rotun datetruncata. Latera planiuscula, obliquata, mox post piunas pectorales latissima, versus caudam gracilescentia. Abdomen carinatum valde prominens, squamis denticulato-serratum. Color argenteus splendens, in dorso cœrulescens. Linea lateralis nulla. Squamæ imbricatim sitæ, latæ, deciduæ. Prima Dorsi in medio dorso parva radiis 18. Pectorales in imo pectore radiis 17. Ventrales approximatæ parvæ in imo ventre, initio dorsalis oppositæ medio inter ventrales et analem, radiis sex. Analis humilis, medio inter ventrales et caudam, radiis 18, sensim decrescentibus. Cauda profunde bifurcata, lobis æqualibus acuminatis, radiis contiguis, subramosis. Latitudine laterum præsertim ab Harengo B differre videtur. [From Günther's "Catalogue of the Fishes in the British Museum," vol. vii, p. 436.] Clupea menhaden, MITCH., Lit. & Phil. Trans., New York, i, p. 453, pl. 5, fig. 7. sadina, DEKAY, l. c., p. 263, pl. 40, fig. 129. MITCHILL'S Clupea sadina (Trans. Lit. Clupea carolinensis, GRONOV, Syst., ed. Gray, p. 140. Brevoortia menhaden, GILL, Proc. Ac. Nat. Sc. Philad., 1861, p. 37. (Name only.) D 19; A. 19-20; V. 7. Scales irregularly arranged; their free portion is very narrow and deep, with the margin ciliated. The height of the body is rather less than the length of the head, which is one-third of the total (without caudal). Lower jaw shutting within the upper; maxillary reaching to the verti cal from the hind margin of the orbit. No teeth on the palate or tongue. Operculum finely striated; suboperculum large, tapering above. Gill rakers very fine and exceedingly long; the horizontal branch of the outer branchial arch consists of two portions joined at an obtuse angle. Ventral fins opposite to the anterior third of the dorsal, the origin of which is somewhat nearer to the caudal than to the end of the snout. Basil half of the caudal fin covered with small scales. There are from twelve to thirteen abdominal scutes behind the base of the ventral fins. A blackish blotch in the scapulary region. |