SPRAT, Harengula sprattus, formerly Clupea sprattus, a fish of the family elupeNm very abundant on many parts of the British coast, and elsewhere in the northern parts of the Atlantic. It is smaller than the herring, being only about six inches in length when foil grown, but much resembles it. It is, however, easily distinguished by the serrated belly, and by the position of the fins, the ventral fins beginning immediately beneath the first ray of the dorsal fin, and not beneath the middle of it. as in the herring and pilchard. Another easily observed distinction is the want of axillary scales to the ventral fins, which both the herring and pilchard have. The dentition is als6 different, and on this account Valenciennes has constituted. for the sprat and a number of other species, the new genes hareaga2a, characterized by having teeth on the jaws, tongue, palatines, and pterygoids, hut no teeth on the vomer. The betel no- has teeth on the vomer. Valenciennes states also that the sprat has only 48 vertebrm, whilst the herring has N. Notwithstanding, all this. an old opinion has recently been revived, and urged with some pertinacity on pulflic attention, that the sprat is the young of the herring, which. therefore, it is injurious to a more important fishery to capture. Except that it is.not common to find sprats full of roe, nothing has been stated in support of this notion more to the purpose than that the serratures of the belly may possibly he a provision for the growth of the fish; a provision to which it may be remarked that nothing analogous appears in any province of nature. Nor is it wonderful that many sprats may be examined wit bout roe being found, as the greater part of those taken on our coasts have not attained their full size. Sprats labound especially on the coasts of Norfolk, Suffolk. Essex. and Kent in November and several following months. The net used for their capture has smaller meshes than the her ring-net. Drift-net fishing- is practiced as foi- herring, and a met hod called fishing
in which a large bag-net is suspended between two horizontal beams beneath the boat, and about a fathom from the ,hotiont of the water; ropes from the ends of the upper beam enabling the fishermen in the boat to keep the mouili of the bag always open and against the tide. Vast quantities of sprats are taken in this way, so that they arc used as manure liv farmers, allhonah London is also very largely supplied with them, and being sold at a very cheap rate, they are a favorite article of food of the poorer classes. The firth of Forth also produces sprats—in Scotland. called go abundantly that they are sold both in Edinburgh and Glasgow by measure, and cheaper than any other kind of fish. But there are many ports of the British coast where the sprat is rare, some of these being parts where the herring is plentiful. Notwithstanding its cheapness, the sprat is a very fine fish, of flavor quite equal to the herring, although decidedly different. Dried sprats are a very common article of provision, and sprats are also sometimes salted. Ile I. ilioies brought from Riga and other ports on the Baltic, are sprats cured with spices; and many of the boxes of sardines which are sent to market from the west coast of are really filled with sprats. The value of the sprat does not scent to be as yet fully appreciated in Britain. Very closely allied to the sprat is another fish (Harenoula !atalus), the blaprinette of the French, which is caught in great abundance on some palls of the west coast of France. Other species of .11arengula are found in other seas. One of them (H. hume•alis), which abounds in the West Indies, and southward as far as Rio Janeiro, is much esteemed, but becomes dangerous at certain seasons, from some unknown cause.