Abstract
THE Meteorological Society of Scotland has made an important contribution to the natural history of the herring (Clupea harengus), the capricious movements of which have recently attracted attention and been discussed in the columns of NATURE. It is often asserted by the more observant persons who assist in the capture of the herring, that the Clupea family are lovers of very cold water, and it is, doubtless, from a knowledge of this fact, that the story of the herring being a native of the Arctic regions took its rise. Pennant's tale of these fish coming annually in a vast heer from the high latitude of the northern seas has been discussed and settled again and again. There need now be no hesitation in saying that Pennant erred; indeed, he only gave literary life to the fables of the fishermen, and, so far as we know, he made no personal effort to determine whether or not the herring was a migratory fish. It has been ascertained beyond doubt that the herring is a local animal, the different varieties of which can readily be identified. Dealers or fishermen are able to distinguish between a Loch Fyne herring and one captured in the Frith of Forth or in the Bay of Wick, or any other sea or frith. As a matter of fact, the herring is found on British shores all the year round, and there is no authority for supposing that the varieties taken in different localities are members of any great general body of these fish, or that there is one great shoal in existence every year, which, at a certain season divides and then subdivides itself, á la Pennant.
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A Contribution to the Natural History of the Herring . Nature 14, 352 (1876). https://doi.org/10.1038/014352a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/014352a0