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California Herring
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The California herring, known in some earlier publications as Clupea mirabilis Girard, is found in the North Pacific from San Diego to Kamchatka and is everywhere known as "herring." It is scarcely different in size, appearance, or qualities from the Atlantic species. It is found the entire length of our Pacific Coast, being exceedingly abundant northward. All the bays and outlets of Puget Sound are filled with them in summer. South of Point Conception they are seldom seen except in winter. They are so abundant in San Francisco Bay in Spring that practically no market! can be found for them. At San Diego they spawn in the bay in January. Farther north the spawning season is later. They are fattest and bring the best price in early winter. They are smoked and dried, or salted, or sent fresh to the markets. Sometimes oil is expressed from them.
The California herring is an excellent food-fish, and large quantities are used annually. It reaches a length of 18 inches.
Head 4 1/3; depth 4; D. 16; A. 14; scales 52. Lower jaw strongly projecting, the upper not emarginate; belly scarcely compressed in front of ventrals, serrate only between ventrals and anal; gill-rakers very long and slender; vomerine teeth weaker than in the Atlantic herring; usually a few teeth on tongue and premaxillaries; insertion of dorsal slightly nearer front of eye than base of caudal. Colour, bluish above, silvery on sides and below; peritoneum dusky.
GENUS CLUPANODON LACEPEDE
The True Sardines
This genus is close to Clupea, which it resembles in from of body and the weak ventral serratures. It differs, however, in having no teeth on the vomer; teeth in jaws mostly weak; scales thin and deciduous; adipose eyelid present; gillrakers very numerous. There are about 6 species in this genus, all confined chiefly to the 2 temperate zones, and all closely related to the European sardine, Clupanodon pilchardus, with which they all agree in richness of flesh.
The 3 genera, Clupea, Clupanodon and Pomolobus, are all closely related and perhaps should be united.
a. Opercle conspicuously striate; side with a series of round black spots; ...................................caeruleus
aa. Opercle scarcely striate; side without black spots;
pseudohispanicus