HERRINGS.
(CLUPEIDAE.)
This is a very large and important family. The members range in size from the Parang-parang (Chirocentrus dorab) which is said to exceed a length of 12 feet to the Bilis (Stolephorus tri) which measures not more than 3 or 4 inches.
Although this family is of great commercial importance in Malaya, and the Herrings, Shad, Sprat, Sardines, White-bait and Anchovies belonging to it are highly esteemed for their flavour and food value by the Malays and all Eastern races, they are unknown to the great majority of European residents in this part of the world, with the exception of the Bilis, which is occasionally seen served as "White bait" or as a sambal with curries or in bottled form as Macassar Red fish.
From an economic point of view this family is second to none in importance and the fact that some of the most valuable kinds associate at certain periods in immense shoals accounts for the usefulness of the family as a food supply.
The following are the most important members of the herring family in our waters:
The Parang-parang (Chirocentrus dorab), the Tĕrubok (Clupea (Alosa) macrura), the Sělangat (Dorosoma spp.), the Tamban (Clupea (Harengula) spp.), (Dussumieria spp.) and (Spratelloides spp.), the Bilis (Stolephorus spp.) and the Bulu ayam (Engraulis spp.).
The Parang-parang is a very bony fish of excellent flavour and its capture by hand line provides a livelihood for several hundred Malays in Singapore alone.
Passengers by steamers proceeding through the Eastern entrance to Singapore roads will see a large number of small canoes in the deep water channel and will hear the noise of the rattles, which each Malay fisherman wields unceasingly. These rattles do not attract the fish, but keep the hand occupied and the fisherman on the "qui vive." The Parang-parang is not a greedy biter and does not stay in one place. He is a rapid swimming predacious fish who has no time for more than a snap as he darts through the water. Bites are usually few and far between and an inexpert or somnolent fisherman would catch nothing. With an ever moving hand engaged with a rattle the fish is struck and hooked almost at the instant he bites.
The Tĕrubok is a Shad and is considerably larger than the ordinary herring. It is known to Europeans in India as the "Hilsa" or "Sable fish." Day says:
"They are excellent as food until they have deposited their ova, when they become thin and positively unwholesome. Their flavour has been compared to a combination of that of the salmon and herring: they are rather heavy of digestion."
