The Larval and Post-Larval Stages of the Pilchard, Sprat and Herring from Plymouth District

Abstract

The young clupeoid material which had been collected from 1913 onwards and sorted out with a view to future biological study, especially of the Pilchard, was handed over to me by Mr. R. S. Clark with the main object of differentiating the three species Pilchard, Herring and Sprat. A research was therefore undertaken to find out the best way of distinguishing them through all their life history until metamorphosis. This was practically finished when the thesis by Fage (1920) on young clupeoids of the “Thor” expedition was published, rendering a large part of my work unnecessary, as, thanks to him, it is now almost impossible to mistake them at any period of their development, and they are clearly differentiated at any time in their life history.