'I', . FISRES OF '!'RE GULF OF MAINE. 101 Description.-The hickory shad differs rather Bay, though it is found in practically all of them. noticeably from the sea herring in that the point This opens the interesting possibility that the of origin of its dorsal fin is considerably in front of "green" fish found in Chesapeake Bay, leave the the mid-length of its trunk; in its deep belly (a Bay, perhaps to spawn in salt water.65 hickory shad 13~ in. long is about 4 in. deep but a General range.-Atlantic coast of North America herring of that length is only 3 in. deep) ; in the fact from the Bay of Fundy to Florida. that its outline tapers toward both snout and tail Occurrence in the Gulf oj Maine.-The hickory in side view (fig. 15); and in that its lower jaw shad is a southern fish, with the Gulf of Maine as projects farther beyond the upper when its mouth the extreme northern limit to its range. It is is closed; also, by the saw-toothed edge of its belly. recorded in scientific literature only at North Also, it lacks the cluster of teeth on the roof of the· Truro; at Provincetown; at Brewster; in Boston mouth that is characteristic of the herring. One Harbor; off Portland; in Casco Ba3T; and from the is more likely to confuse a hickory shad with a shad mouth of the Bay of Fundy (Huntsman doubts or with the alewives, which it resembles in the this record), and it usually is so uncommon within position of its dorsal fin, in the great depth of its our limits that we have seen none in the Gulf body, in its saw-toothed belly and in the lack of ourselves. But in 1932 anglers, trolling for striped teeth on the roof of the mouth. But it is marked bass and maokerel off the Merrimac River, met a off from all of these by its projecting lower jaw. run of hickory shad.66 There is also a small difference in outline, its head It is much more plentiful west of Cape Cod, tapering more to the snout, as seen in side view being common from spring throughout summer and (fig. 45). Ithas only about half as many gill rakers early autumn at Woods Hole, where as many as (19 to 21 on the lower limb of the first gill arch) 3,500 have been taken at a single lift of one trap. as either the alewife or the blueback; and its upper In 1919 the Massachusetts catch of hickory shad, jaw, reaching back only about as far as opposite practically all from the south coast, amounted to the center of its eye, is shorter than that of the 12,800 pounds, and none are listed for Massa­ shad in which it reaches as far as the rear edge of chusetts for any subsequent year. the eye. Under favorable circumstances its color, also, Alewife Pomolobus pseudoharengu8 (Wilson) 1811 is characteristic, Jor it is faintly marked on the lapproximate date] sides with dusky longitudinal stripes, and the tip of its snout is dusky. GASPEREAU; SAWBELLY; KYAK; BRANCH HERRING; Size.-This is the largest of our anadromous FRESH-WATER HERRING; GRAYBACK herrings next to· the shad, growing to a length of Jordan and Evermann, 1896-1900, p. 426. 2 feet. A fish about 15 inches long weighs a Description.-The alewife is distinguishable at pound, one of 18 inches, 2 pounds. a glance from the sea herring by the greater depth Habits.-Nothing is known of the habits of the of its body, which is three and one-third times as hickory shad in the sea to differentiate it from its long as deep (an alewife of 13~ inches is about close relatives of the herring tribe except that it is 4 inches deep; a herring that long has a depth of lUore of a fish eater. Launce, anchovies, cunners, only 3 inches) also by the position of its dorsal herring, scup, silversides, and other small fish, fin, the point of origin of which is considerably squid, fish eggs, and even small crabs have been nearer to the tip of the snout than to the point of found in the stomachs of hickory shad at Woods origin of the central rays of the tail fin. Further­ lIole, as well as sundry pelagic Crustacea. It more, the alewife· is much more heavily built Will strike a small spinner or other artifical lure, forward than the herring, and the serrations on and it gives a good fight when hooked. In the the midline of its belly are much stronger and Southern parts of its range it is described as running sharper (hence the local name "sawbelly"), so IIp fresh streams, with the alewives in late winter much so that a practiced hand can separate and early spring to spawn.64 But it appears not to do so in the streams tributary to Chesapeake IllIlldobralld and Schroeder, Bull., U. S. Bur. Fish., vol. 43, 1928, p.84• .. The Museum of Comparative Zoology received ono from this run from Ii Smith (N. O. Oeol. Eoon. Surv; vol. 2,1897, p. 121) describes It as doing Dr. J. O. Phillips, caught by him oly thenorthern end of Plum Island, October 80 In tho streams tributary to Pamllco Sound, N. C., where It is plentlful. 2,1932, 102 FISHERY BULLETIN 01" THE FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE FIGURE 46.-Alewife (PomolobuB paeudoharenlluB), Chesapeake Bay region specimen. From Goode. Drawing by H. L. Todd. herring from alewives in the dark. The most Size.-The alewife grows to a length of about 15 useful distinctions between the alewife and the inches, but adults average only about 10 to 11 blueback are that in the former the eye is broader inches long and about 8 to 9 ounces in weight; than the distance from its forward edge to the tip 16,400,000 fish taken in New England in 1898 of its snout and the back grayish green, while in weighed about 8,800,000 pounds. the latter the eye is only about as wide as the Habits.-The alewife, like the shad and the distance from front of eye to tip of snout, and the salmon makes its growth in the sea, but enters back is dark blue (p. 107). Also the lining of the fresh water streams to spawn. This "anadro­ abdominal cavity is pale grayish or pinkish white mous" habit, as it is ·called, forced itself on the in the alewife, but is usually dusky or blackish in attention of the early settlers on our coasts. In the blueback. But this distinction may not hold the words of an eyewitness, "experience hath in all cases. taught them at New Plymouth that in April there Alewives are distinguishable from young shad is a fish much like a herring that comes up into by their smaller mouths with shorter upper jaws; the small brooks to spawn, and when the water also by the fact that the lower jaw of the alewife is not knee deep they will presse up through your projects slightly beyond the upper when the hands, yea, thow you beat at them with cudgels, mouth is closed, and by the outline of the edge of and in such abundance as is incredible." 67 And the lower jaw, the forward part of which is deeply they are no less persevering in their struggles concave in the alewife but nearly straight in the upstream today. Numbers of them are to be shad. The lack of teeth on the roof of the mouth seen in many streams, any spring, alternately distinguishes the alewife, with its brethren the swimming ahead; resting in the eddy behind some hickory shad (p. 100) and blueback (p. 106) from irregularity of the bottom; then moving ahead the sea herring, anatomically. again, between one's feet if one happens to be Oalar.-The alewife, like the herring, is grayish standing in miGstream. And they are much more green above, darkest on the back, paler and successful than the shad in surmounting fishways silvery on sides and belly. Usually there is a of suitable design. During the early runs some­ dusky spot on either side just behind the margin times one sex predominates, sometimes the other, of the gill cover (lacking in the herring) and the but the late runs consist chiefly of males, as a upper side may be faintly striped with dark longi­ rule, and these are said to outnumber the females tudinallines in large fish. The sides are iridescent greatly on the spawning grounds. We have nO in life, with shades of green and violet. The colors firsthand observations to contribute on this score. change, to some extent, in shade from darker to Alewives are decidedly general in their choice paler, or vice versa, to match the bottom below, " Capt. Charles Whltbome,1n "The True Travels of Capt. John Smith," as the fish run up stream in shallow water. 1616, vol. 2, p. 250. FISHES OF THE GULF OF MAINE 103 of streams, running indifferently up rivers as large successive companies of fry move out of the pond as the St. John, Merrimac and Potomac, or and down with the current throughout the streams so small that one can almost leap across, summer; and by autumn the young alewives have and only a few inches deep. In large rivers they all found their way down to salt water when 2 to run far upstream-how far they may do so we 4 inches long.