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PILCHARD (in earlier 16th century for...
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See also:PILCHARD (in earlier 16th See also:century forms pylcher, pilchar; of unknown origin; the Fr. pilseir is adapted from Eng.) , Clupea pilchardus, a See also:fish of the See also:herring See also:family (Clupeidae), abundant in the Mediterranean and on the See also:Atlantic coasts of See also:Europe, See also:north to the See also:English Channel. Sardine is another name for the same fish, which on the See also:coast of Britanny and See also:Normandy is also called celan or celdren. It is readily distinguished from the other See also:European See also:species of Clupea. The operculum is sculptured with ridges radiating and descending towards the suboperculum; the scales are large, about See also:thirty along the lateral See also:line, See also:deciduous; the ventral fins are inserted below, or nearly below, the See also:middle of the See also:base of the dorsal fin; the dorsal fin has seventeen or eighteen, the anal from nineteen to twenty-one rays. A small blackish spot in the scapulary region is very See also:constant, and sometimes succeeded by other similar marks. There are no See also:teeth on the See also:palate; pyloric appendages exist in See also:great See also:numbers; the vertebrae number fifty-three. The pilchard is one of the most important fishes of the English Channel. It spawns at a distance from the See also:shore, and its eggs are buoyant, like those of many other marine fishes and unlike those of the herring, which are adhesive and demersal, i.e. develop under See also:water. The See also:egg of the pilchard is very easily distinguished from other pelagic eggs by the unusually large space separating the vitelline membrane from the contained ovum. Spawning takes See also:place in summer, the See also:season extending from See also:June to See also:October. When commencing their migrations towards the See also:land the shoals consist of countless numbers, but they break up into smaller companies near the shore. Pilchards feed on See also:minute crustaceans and other pelagic animals and require two er three years before they attain their full See also:size, which is about so in. in length. The sardines of the See also:west coast of See also:France, which are tinned in oil for export, are immature fish of the same stock as those takenon the coasts of See also:Cornwall; they are 5 to 71 in. in length, and though such fish occur also on the Cornish coast it is only in small numbers and for brief periods. In the Mediterranean the sardine does not exceed 72 in. in length when mature. On the Pacific coast of See also:America, in New See also:Zealand and in See also:Japan a pilchard occurs (Clupea sagax) which in its characters and habits is so similar to the European pilchard that its See also:general utilization is deserving of See also:attention. Immense shoals are reported to visit the See also:east coast of Otago every See also:year in See also:February and See also: Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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