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SPRAT

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Originally appearing in Volume V25, Page 736 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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SPRAT , a marine See also:

fish (Clupea sprattus), named " garvie " in See also:Scotland, one of the smallest See also:species of the genus Clupea or See also:herrings, rarely exceeds 5 in. in length, and occurs in large shoals on the See also:Atlantic coasts of See also:Europe. Sprats are very often See also:con-founded with See also:young herrings, which they much resemble, but can always be distinguished by the Iollowing characters: they do not possess any See also:teeth on the See also:palate (vemer), like herrings; their gill-covers are smooth, without the radiating striae which are found in the See also:shad and the See also:pilchard; the anal fin consists of from seventeen to twenty rays, and the lateral See also:line of See also:forty-seven or forty-eight scales. The ventral fins are slightly anterior to the origin of the dorsal fin; and the spine consists of from forty-seven to forty-nine vertebrae. The sprat spawns in the open See also:sea from See also:February to May and is only occasionally captured in the ripe See also:condition. Its eggs are buoyant and pelagic and easily recognized. The sprat is one of the more important See also:food-fishes on See also:account of the immense See also:numbers which are caught when the shoals approach the coasts. They are somewhat capricious, however, as regards the See also:place and See also:time of their See also:appearance, the latter falling chiefly in the first See also:half of See also:winter. They are caught with the See also:seine or with the bag-See also:net in the tideway. Large quantities are consumed fresh, but many are pickled or smoked and others prepared like anchovies. Frequently the captures are so large that the fish can be used as manure only.

End of Article: SPRAT

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SPRAT, THOMAS ( 1635-1713)

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